Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Revealed as NBA 2K26 Cover Star After Historic NBA MVP Season

Champion. MVP. Scoring title. 

NBA 2K26 cover athlete.

It has been a magical year for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Oklahoma City Thunder guard can add another line to his ever-growing list of accomplishments after NBA 2K announced Tuesday he will grace the cover of the upcoming NBA 2K26 Standard Edition.

This marks the second straight year NBA 2K has put a newly crowned first-time NBA champion on its cover, as Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was joined by A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces on the cover of NBA 2K25.

If the iconic video game series is trying to capture the current moment in the NBA every year, SGA was the clear choice for the cover.

After all, he just turned in one of the best individual seasons in NBA history by taking home his first career MVP behind a league-best 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep.

All he did from there was parlay his brilliant regular season into an unstoppable postseason run that ended with him lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy as a champion and the NBA Finals MVP.

Gilgeous-Alexander was at his best in the biggest moments, which is exactly what the Thunder needed from their MVP when their championship hopes were hanging in the balance. He poured in 35 points in a Game 7 win against the Denver Nuggets in the second round and then posted a double-double of 29 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

While Tyrese Haliburton's injury undercut Indiana's chances in that decisive contest, Gilgeous-Alexander helped put the game away with his ability to get to the free-throw line and put his teammates in the best position to succeed when defenders collapsed on him.

It was the final game in a legendary season and one that will be remembered forever by Oklahoma City fans.

And now it will be memorialized forever in NBA 2K lore thanks to the MVP's spot on the cover of the next edition of the game.