The r/NBA2K subreddit hosts a contest every year in which members of the community submit custom cover designs for the upcoming game. The winner for this year just got announced and I have the honor of calling the winning design mine!
This cover design is based on rising NBA Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (or SGA) of the Oklahoma City Thunder. After making the All-NBA First Team for the second year in a row, it is hard to deny Shai a spot as one of the top 5 players in the league. Shai helped lead his young team to the first seed in the Western Conference. After sweeping the pelicans in the first round, the Thunder cemented themselves as the youngest team in NBA History to win a playoff series. They were then eliminated in 6 games during the second round by the Dallas Mavericks who would go on to make the 2024 NBA Finals.
The cover art here depicts SGA pointing up to the sky overlayed onto a double exposure image of Shai and the fans. He has stressed time and time again how important it is to give back to the fans that give so much to watch their favorite teams play. So, I wanted to include a subtle nod to his love for the people and I am really happy with the result. I am especially a fan of how his long last name visibly stands out on his jersey without being too obnoxious.
When creating this cover, I wanted to ensure it felt as authentic as possible to what 2K might put out. For this reason, the 2K sports logos as well as the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) logo are placed very intentionally. I looked over every 2K cover from the last 5 years to get a feel for what makes a good cover design. This one was inspired a lot by 2K22’s Luka Doncic cover as well as the 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition. There’s something so clean about a player on top of a colorful pattern.
The blue, white and orange represent the colors of his team, the Thunder. Everything in the design is meant to lead your eyes upward. This serves the dual purpose of not only guiding a potential customer’s eyes upward toward the title, but also represents Shai and his team’s rise to the top of a competitive league.
Despite their early accomplishments, there is still much left to prove for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. They should be a force to be reckoned with over the next few years in the Western Conference. But for now, SGA will stay immortalized on my custom cover for 2K25!
I want to thank everyone that helped vote for my submission. This victory would not be possible without your help! I am highly appreciative of all the support I have garnered through speaking with other members of the 2K community. I look forward to sharing more work in the future.
To celebrate, I wanted to also share a design that didn’t quite make it out of the cutting room! There is no doubt that 2K and the basketball community at large is infatuated with rookie French phenom Victor Wembanyama. I would not be surprised to see him on a 2K cover within the next year or two. I had a hard time deciding between these two cover designs, but ultimately I ended up going with Shai for a more colorful finished product. I hope you enjoy them both!
This design uses many elements of the Shai cover, but has some of its own flair to make it stand out. Instead of a double exposure image, this design uses a secondary black and white blurred version of Wembanyama in the back left. On the right side is his name and number as it appears on the rear of his jersey. I was a big fan of how this design turned out as well, but ultimately, I am happy that I submitted the SGA design for the contest.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!
[This contest is hosted by the r/NBA2k subreddit community on Reddit and is not directly affiliated with NBA 2K or Take-Two Interactive. The Grand Prize is a free digital copy of NBA 2K25 when it releases later this year]
