LeBron James is arguably the best NBA player there is right now. Not only did he finally earn himself his first NBA Championship last year, but the Miami Heat also has the second longest winning streak in history. The Heat notched up 27 consecutive wins before losing to the Chicago Bulls.
Even with all these accolades behind him, James has yet to achieve two more things to put on his already impressive resume. He has yet to participate and win in a Slam Dunk contest. The other thing he has never done is be on the cover of ANY NBA video game. Will he finally make fit onto the cover of NBA 2K14?
Ever since James was the number one pick of the NBA draft in 2003, he’s been the focal point of the sports media from that point onwards. Much like Kobe Bryant, he is only a select few that came straight out of high school to play in the NBA. Most normal players have to enter college first before they are good enough to get drafted.
Despite all of the attention James received during this rookie years in the NBA, he has never been featured on the cover of an NBA video game. Some people suggested that it might be “too expensive” for game publishers to feature him on the cover. There may be some truth to that, although Michael Jordan recently featured on the covers of NBA 2K11 and NBA 2K12. Jordan is more famous than James and I’m sure he would have been more expensive.
It’s not just the NBA 2K series that ignored James either. EA’s NBA Live series never had James on the cover too. Even though NBA Elite 11 got cancelled, that game was to feature Kevin Durant on the cover. This was even before Durant made the NBA Finals in 2012. Durant eventually went on the cover of NBA 2K13 along with Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. Still, the omission of James on any NBA video game cover is still baffling.
The only reason I feel that James isn’t on the cover of any NBA video game now is because he’s unpopular. Sure he may be the best basketball player right now, but this does not change the fact that a lot of people still hate him. People’s dislike of the man started when he ditched his home team of the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat with his two friends Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The players were dubbed “The Big Three” and the Miami Heat were the most hated team in the NBA. One of the reasons fans disliked the team was because James immediately thought he would win a NBA Championship easily. His arrogance backfired on him however when the Heat lost in the 2011 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Miami Heat were a more “mature” team in 2012 and eventually won the NBA Championship, although people still didn’t like the team. ESPN even held a poll asking people which team they wanted to win the NBA Title last year. Out of all the 50 states that there are in the USA, only the state of Florida wanted the Miami Heat to win last year. Every other state in the country were rooting for the Oklahoma Thunder to take the trophy.
It will be interesting to see who 2K Sports chooses to grace the cover of NBA 2K14. LeBron James seems like the perfect candidate now that he’s won an NBA Title and is playing the best basketball of his entire career. There really isn’t any other current NBA player that I feel is famosus enough to grace the cover of NBA 2K14. Not to mention NBA 2K14 could potentially be the first on the franchise to hit the PS4 and Xbox 720. 2K Sports needs a recognizable star to sell the game for them. The only thing that might backfire on them is the fact that he’s still not the most popular player in the NBA right now…
Who would you like to see on the cover of NBA 2K14?
johnny
April 5, 2013 at 12:25 PMI say for 2k14 I would also like to see LeBron James on the cover, but they should do something new this time with the cover and have the entire team on it with LeBron in the middle of the cover, and the team around him cause they all deserve it
Mike
April 5, 2013 at 11:56 PMYes they should put LBJ on the cover. Quit hating on this man & give him the cover 2K.
Jeff
April 23, 2013 at 4:56 AMWho would you choose if not LeBron?
I would go for the “Birdman”! Too much energy and they don’t have to photoshop that much.
Brandon
April 24, 2013 at 2:16 PMMan, dont put lebron on tht cover because it wont make it home im taking the cover off right when i leave gamestop!!!! Not hating or nothing just dont like lebron
Josh
April 25, 2013 at 1:14 AMThe finals mvp and the guy who was the star of the team who lost in the finals so like lebron/melo and kd/cp3 which would probably be the most likely combinations
Mitja
April 27, 2013 at 12:44 PMI think this is a great idea to put LeBron on the cover and I think he really deserves it.
LALfan 4 Ever
May 1, 2013 at 8:38 AM100% laker fan so i would say Kobe but give LBJ some credit, he’s good, he is the king.
Eazy
May 4, 2013 at 5:51 PMDie hard laker fan also kobe is the best still key word still @ age 34 going ham dunking on people obj great player still has to pass kobe bean Bryant also 5 rings
Raj
May 21, 2013 at 11:02 AMAs you LBJ fans say, he may be the beat player right now but he is the misted hated one too.
The game producers who puts a lot of money in creating the game should also consider these kind of logics, because who knows, putting Lebron on the cover may even LBJ haters to hate this game too.
But unfortunately, except Florida all the other dates of America hate Lebron. Nuff said!!