News Post

NBA 2K9 Cover Athlete Press Release

07:11 PM - May 22, 2008 by Steve_OS

2K Sports to Reveal Cover Athlete for NBA® 2K9
During Pre-Game Show for Game One of the NBA Finals on June 5

Fans can now visit new 2K Sports Community Site to predict next cover athlete and win exclusive prizes

New York, NY – May 22, 2008 – 2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), today announced that the cover athlete for the highly anticipated basketball video game NBA 2K9 will be revealed through a 30 second TV spot scheduled to air during the NBA Countdown pre-game show for Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals, June 5 on ABC

As part of revealing the new cover athlete, 2K Sports has launched a new community web site, www.2ksports.com/nba2k9, where registered participants can predict the cover athlete for NBA 2K9 from a selection of 16 NBA players. Fans who predict correctly will be entered into a special drawing for the opportunity to win exclusive prizes.

“We’re extremely excited to offer this online promotion to our loyal community of 2K Sports fans, as we think it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to interact more closely with them through a refreshingly fun and rewarding experience,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “The NBA 2K franchise is king among basketball players and passionate fans who know and understand basketball. Revealing our cover athlete prior to Game One affords us a unique opportunity to capitalize on the anticipation surrounding the NBA Finals while simultaneously generating excitement for the release of NBA 2K9.”

To enter in the NBA 2K9 cover athlete reveal sweepstakes, participants must register from May 22 - June 4. Official contest rules and other important information can be found on www.2ksports.com/nba2k9. Fans will guess the NBA 2K9 cover athlete from a list of NBA players provided, and all entrants that are correct will be entered into a random drawing to win the sweepstakes prizes on June 5. One grand prize winner will receive the NBA 2K9 cover athlete’s authentic, autographed NBA jersey, along with a copy of NBA 2K9 on the platform of their choice. Ten other first prize winners will also receive a copy of NBA 2K9. All winners will receive their copy of NBA 2K9 upon release of the game.

NBA 2K9, which is being developed by Visual Concepts, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this fall for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. For more information, please visit www.2ksports.com.

The 2008 NBA Finals are currently scheduled to tip off on June 5 at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC.

NBA 2K9 screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: NBA 2K9Reader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 72 - View All

NBA 2K9 Videos

Member Comments

# 41 Altimus @ 05/23/08 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBadazz


	I voted Deron Williams.

I actually think he wants to be on Live since Paul was on 2K. Plus earlier in the year he mentioned he likes Live better.

# 42 Altimus @ 05/23/08 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBH


	Here's the list of the 16 candidates for the cover: Chris Bosh Baron Davis Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Andre Iguodala LeBron James Yao Ming Steve Nash Dirk Nowitzki Tony Parker Chris Paul Paul Pierce Brandon Roy Josh Smith Dwayne Wade Deron Williams

I'm going either with Pierce, Smith, or Roy.

# 43 DTX3 @ 05/23/08 02:20 PM

No Kobe? Dwayne Wade!? wow...

# 44 kingofdasouf14 @ 05/23/08 03:18 PM

Im going with J.Smith so they can hopefully reveal a new shot blocking feature

# 45 jhartman01 @ 05/23/08 04:29 PM

Okay, here are some pics of Bosh. They're not exact but do show some similarities to the NBA 2K9 pic.

http://img16.photobucket.com/albums/...ll_version.jpg

http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/HICKS/act_chris_bosh.jpg

Also, let us not forget that Chris Paul was flying under the radar until this year. Yes, people knew who he was and knew his name but it wasn't until this year that Chris Paul and MVP were mentioned in the same sentence. So, I don't think it's that far of a reach to say Bosh could get the cover.

# 46 NINJAK2 @ 05/23/08 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Altimus GTR


	I actually think he wants to be on Live since Paul was on 2K. Plus earlier in the year he mentioned he likes Live better.

Well Arenas said he liked 2k better in the past and he was willing to take ea's cash and be on their cover. If it's not Paul it should be LeBron. From a marketing standpoint that makes the most sense as far as reaching the masses.

# 47 eDotd @ 05/23/08 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NINJAK2


	Well Arenas said he liked 2k better in the past and he was willing to take ea's cash and be on their cover. If it's not Paul it should be LeBron. From a marketing standpoint that makes the most sense as far as reaching the masses.

Is it worth it though? I have no idea how they decide on these things but you would think that LeBron would demand millions + a multi year contract. I don't really think they need LeBron on the cover when there are plenty of other marketable names out there who won't demolish their bank account

# 48 DakkoN @ 05/23/08 05:14 PM

If the picture is of the cover athlete, I really think it's KG because of that bent arm dunking style that KG usually dunks with, though he usually dunks right handed though, but it could be a mirror image also. But that bent off arm dunk is how KG dunks it almost every time unless he's using 2 hands

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/fan...arnett_all.jpg
http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/war...g.147123_t.jpg
http://www.nbaloud.com/images/kevin-garnett-dunk12.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...eyoopFromR.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...-4Q-Dunk-3.jpg

# 49 youvalss @ 05/23/08 05:33 PM

So I started thinking "forget all the fuss about the cover athlete, u can make NBA Starting five 2005 cover (no athlete, just the logo of the game). Spend the money on perfecting the game rather than on gimmicks".

# 50 DC @ 05/23/08 07:50 PM

When I ASKED Gilbert why he chose to be on the cover of Live when WE ALL know he likes 2K better he simply started shuffling his fingers and said, "They paid me" lol

# 51 XenoZograscope @ 05/23/08 08:04 PM

Im hoping for Bron

# 52 t216 @ 05/24/08 02:03 PM

Bron
Kobe
Bosh
KG

# 53 ne0trainer @ 05/24/08 04:31 PM

When they selected CP3 last year, it was a move that shocked me like no other...

I wanted to pick a team that was coming up and could do something next year, along with a young player who casuals may or may not have heard of, so I picked Brandon Roy.

# 54 TMagic @ 05/24/08 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomentousCeltic


	Is it worth it though? I have no idea how they decide on these things but you would think that LeBron would demand millions + a multi year contract. I don't really think they need LeBron on the cover when there are plenty of other marketable names out there who won't demolish their bank account

What if LeBron changed his demands. Gave up on trying to get so much and settled for what he can get?

# 55 TMagic @ 05/24/08 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTX3


	No Kobe? Dwayne Wade!? wow...

...and D Wade was an option on that list if I'm not mistaken.

# 56 stizz @ 05/24/08 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmagic_01


	...and D Wade* was an option on that list if I'm not mistaken.*

Sure was..

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBH


	Here's the list of the 16 candidates for the cover: Chris Bosh Baron Davis Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Andre Iguodala LeBron James Yao Ming Steve Nash Dirk Nowitzki Tony Parker Chris Paul Paul Pierce Brandon Roy Josh Smith Dwayne Wade Deron Williams

# 57 ZephyrSong @ 05/25/08 02:39 AM

You would immediately notice Wade as he is spelled incorrectly in the list again.

# 58 stizz @ 05/25/08 03:15 AM

Yeah noticed that, I just couldn't be bothered changing it when I quoted it.

# 59 eathb @ 05/25/08 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DakkoN


	If the picture is of the cover athlete, I really think it's KG because of that bent arm dunking style that KG usually dunks with, though he usually dunks right handed though, but it could be a mirror image also. But that bent off arm dunk is how KG dunks it almost every time unless he's using 2 hands http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/fan...arnett_all.jpg http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/war...g.147123_t.jpg http://www.nbaloud.com/images/kevin-garnett-dunk12.jpg http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...eyoopFromR.jpg http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c9...-4Q-Dunk-3.jpg

the one i bolded in ur pics, is spot on i reckon.

# 60 ZephyrSong @ 05/25/08 04:43 AM

Well the Finals is near anyways...

I think they'd release pics now (teasers as you will) sometime in June too.

And oh... Eathb, the one you bolded in Dakkon's pics is not stop on because it is right handed.

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