NBA 2K23 Cover Star: Who is it?

The NBA Finals just wrapped up on June 16, which means it's officially NBA 2K23 cover athlete watch.

Of course, NBA 2K22 Season 7: Return Of Heroes is still going strong, complete with new prizes and levels for players to attain. However, with the draft and free agency sending shockwaves in the real world, momentum is certainly steering towards the next title in the basketball simulation franchise to make its debut. As such, here's a breakdown of who will be the NBA 2K23 cover star.

NBA 2K23 Cover Star: Who is it?

Unfortunately, at the time of publication, 2K and the development team at Visual Concepts have yet to officially reveal NBA 2K23, let alone announce a cover athlete for it.

However, as many longtime fans of the series can certainly attest to, the release patterns for NBA 2K games over the years have been very consistent, even through lockouts and season postponements.

Here are the recent cover athletes for previous NBA 2K titles:

• NBA 2K19: Giannis Antentokounmpo / LeBron James (20th Anniversary Edition)
• NBA 2K20: Anthony Davis / Dwyane Wade (Legend Edition)
• NBA 2K21: Damian Lillard (Current Gen) / Zion Williamson (Next Gen) / Kobe Bryant (Mamba Forever Edition)
• NBA 2K22: Luka Dončić / Candace Parker (WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition) / Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant (NBA 75th Anniversary Edition)

As such, you can almost certainly pencil in that NBA 2K23 will have an active player for its standard edition and a retro player, or players, for its special edition.

If we had to guess who the standard edition cover athlete for NBA 2K23 would be, Nikola Jokić, Joel Embiid or even former 2K16 cover star Stephen Curry certainly seem like the likeliest fits at this time.

Meanwhile, for the retro special edition, there's no telling what direction 2K and co. will go in this time.

The first official bit of NBA 2K23 news fans have received thus far is that the series has partnered with the NBA Summer League this July and that more details for the game will drop around then.

We will update this article once more information on the official cover stars is released, so feel free to check back soon.

UPDATE 6/30/22: According to Front Office Sports, Sham Charania has reported that Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker will be the cover athlete for NBA 2K23.

UPDATE 7/5/22: 2K has announced that Michael Jordan will be the cover athlete for two special editions of NBA 2K23: the Michael Jordan Edition and the Championship Edition.

UPDATE 7/6/22: 2K has announced that Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi and Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird will be the cover athletes for the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K23.