2K announced on Tuesday that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be the cover athlete for the NBA 2K26 video game.

Gilgeous-Alexander is a popular choice to be on the cover. Better known as SGA, he is the reigning league MVP and led the 1-seed Oklahoma City Thunder to the organization’s first NBA Championship, finishing the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Someone has to be on the cover of these video games. Gilgeous-Alexander grew in popularity and was recognized for his hard work, despite being in a smaller market. So from 2K’s perspective, Gilgeous-Alexander was a great, timely choice to grace the cover of their video game. But for the basketball fans who enjoyed SGA’s game, there’s cause for concern whether the curse is real and could impact a bright, young career.

A curse has been loosely defined as “jinxing” a player in the following season. Whether it be changing teams, a significant injury, a setback in productivity, or the postseason yips, there are various degrees to which players have been jinxed on the cover.

NBA 2K curses don’t get as much attention as Madden curses, but there could be a conspiracy theory regarding the beloved basketball game.

Here are the main cover athletes since NBA 2K17 who were actively playing in the NBA:

• 2K17: Paul George
• 2K18: Kyrie Irving
• 2K19: Giannis Antetokounmpo
• 2K20: Anthony Davis
• 2K21: Damian Lillard & Zion Williamson
• 2K22: Luka Doncic
• 2K23: Devin Booker
• (Kobe Bryant was posthumously 2K24)
• 2K25: Jayson Tatum

Let’s dive into each of these athletes and how they fared in the following season.

PAUL GEORGE — George was named the cover athlete before the 2016-17 season, where the Pacers were swept in the first round. Once known as Playoff P for his heroics in the postseason, George went ice-cold and was then traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

KYRIE IRVING — After being announced as the cover athlete, Irving would be traded to the Celtics and 2K had to change the cover art from his Cavaliers jersey to a Celtics one. That first year in Boston, Irving struggled to stay healthy as he tried to shoulder the load as a #1 option and he would miss 22 regular-season games plus the playoffs.

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO — Giannis balked in the face of a curse. Giannis won the league MVP after being on the cover, the second Bucks player in history after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the third youngest to win the award over the previous 40 seasons, along with Derrick Rose and LeBron James. The only blemish is the team fell short to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals.

ANTHONY DAVIS — Davis is known for being made of glass, but the following season was likely his best one, winning his first and only ring with the Lakers in the pandemic bubble. Davis missed 20 games in the regular season but was unstoppable when he was on the floor, showing why he was one of the best defenders in the NBA at the time and really emerged as a top 10 player in the Association.

DAMIAN LILLARD — Lillard was at the height of his career after making the 2K cover. He was the “current gen” cover, but balled out. Lillard was the only reason the Blazers were in the playoffs and competing against the Denver Nuggets, and even his playoff career-high of 55 points couldn’t push the Blazers past the Nuggets in Game 5, for the team to eventually lose in the first round in six games. His bad string of luck came the following year when he had an abdominal injury and was ruled out for the rest of the year due to Portland’s poor record.

ZION WILLIAMSON — Williamson’s whole career seems to be cursed. The former #1 overall pick hasn’t played a full season due to injury. After one year in the NBA, Williamson made the “new gen” cover and played in 61 games, averaging a career-high of 27 PPG. Unfortunately, his bad luck would hit and miss the entire 2021-22 season with a foot injury.

LUKA DONCIC — Doncic almost proved the curse right because he missed the first three games in the postseason due to injury, but with his return, he came back and beat the Utah Jazz in six games. Doncic set records the season after he was chosen for the cover. Doncic became the third player in NBA history to have three All-NBA First Team nominations in his first four years, joining Tim Duncan and Larry Bird. We could list all the legends Doncic wrote his name beside that year, but it deserves its own article.

DEVIN BOOKER — Booker hasn’t been quite the same since the cover. In the 2022-23 season, Booker missed the most amount of games of his career (29). When he was on the floor, he was good with career-highs in points per game that season and in the playoffs. The Suns were bounced in the Western Conference semifinals just two years removed from an NBA Finals trip. The Suns haven’t been the same since.

JAYSON TATUM — This is the heartbreaking one. His shooting percentage dipped this year, but the biggest blow is the injury. After winning his first NBA Championship, Tatum reached the very end of the year before he tore his Achilles and he’ll now miss the entire upcoming season.

Now, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the task of elevating his play beyond the curse. Some, as you can see, have answered the call over the last ten years. I’m sure the Thunder hope SGA has a Giannis Antetokounmpo kind of year rather than a Jayson Tatum ending.

Do you believe the curse is real when it comes to athletes on video game covers? Let us know in the comments below if you think SGA will be able to build on his success next season.