The celebration surrounding Candace Parker‘s game, and what she’s brought to the WNBA, is long overdue.
Parker will be the first female cover athlete in the history of the NBA 2K franchise, marking the W’s 25th anniversary.
Extremely proud and humbled to be the first female cover athlete in the history of @NBA2K
— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) July 14, 2021
I’m honored to work with a company that’s investing in women and betting on us to succeed. I’m hopeful there will be many more badass females to follow 💪🏽💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/WJan4YE7Qt
“Everyone is looking at it that it’s impacting little girls, but it’s also impacting little boys and young men and young women and men and women,” Parker said. “I think our game is different than the NBA; now it’s embracing that fact. Now more than ever, fans want to follow the athlete. Through social media, through video games, it’s adding and benefiting the WNBA.”
The two-time WNBA MVP and Chicago Sky forward joins Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic—who was named the cover athlete of the regular edition—Los Angeles Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki, who were recognized as the cover athletes for the NBA’s 75th anniversary edition.
🏀 75 years since the NBA was born
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 14, 2021
🏆 3 legends of their era
Introducing our #NBA2K22 75th Anniversary Cover Athletes @KDTrey5 @swish41 @kaj33
Pre-order now ➡️ https://t.co/vvOEdFGQaU pic.twitter.com/3ZrU9NlZ1i
Huge honor to be on the cover of #NBA2K22. Thanks @NBA2K! pic.twitter.com/ptIhpVNUdN
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) July 14, 2021
After being snubbed from the 2021 Olympic roster, the two-time gold medalist will be commentating the medal rounds in Tokyo as a studio analyst for NBCUniversal
The WNBA’s 25th anniversary special edition cover featuring Parker will drop on Sep. 10.