{"id":1247850,"date":"2026-02-28T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=611431"},"modified":"2026-02-28T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:31:14","slug":"shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26<\/em>\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n

Suppose you’ve watched any ball during the 2024-25 NBA season: You’d understand immediately why this decision was a no-brainer. In the 2024-25 season, Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring, snagging 32.7 points per game, earning him the coveted scoring title.<\/p>\n

Additionally, SGA was named the NBA MVP, and became an NBA Finals MVP after winning his first NBA Championship. The historic season made Gilgeous-Alexander only the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP and Finals MVP, and obtain the league\u2019s scoring title all in the same season. The other three players? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Jordan, the latter of whom did it four times throughout the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

While there hasn’t been any official word yet on other editions of NBA 2K26<\/em> for sale, players can expect to see various versions of the game announced soon, following its historical trend of releasing two-to-four different editions of the game annually.<\/p>\n

NBA 2K26 <\/em>hasn’t received an official release date yet, but the game typically launches in the first week of September<\/a>, so fans can probably expect it to follow that trend as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve watched any ball during the 2024-25 NBA season: You’d understand immediately why this decision was a no-brainer. In the 2024-25 season, Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring, snagging 32.7 points per game, earning him the coveted scoring title. Additionally, SGA was named the NBA MVP, and became an NBA Finals MVP after winning his first NBA Championship. The historic season made Gilgeous-Alexander only the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP and Finals MVP, and obtain the league\u2019s scoring title all in the same season. The other three players? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Michael Jordan, the latter…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1247851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1247850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nShai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":221,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Polygon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News","description":"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News","og_description":"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star","datePublished":"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/"},"wordCount":221,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg","articleSection":["Polygon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/","name":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-28T17:31:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"2K Games has unveiled the cover star for NBA 2K26\u2019s Standard Edition, and \u2014 to the shock of no one \u2014 it\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suppose you’ve","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/shai-gilgeous-alexander-tapped-as-nba-2k26-cover-star\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tapped as NBA 2K26 cover star"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513241,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247850\/revisions\/1513241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1247851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}