Carmelo Anthony is Trending, and Son Kiyan Anthony Had One Word for It

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dean Koutouratsas | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 4:19 PM ET

The reigning NBA MVP, a two-time WNBA All-Star and an all-time great scorer are featured on the three covers of NBA 2K26.

The new video game is scheduled for release on Sept. 5, and the developers announced that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be their next standard edition cover athlete, alongside Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese on the WNBA edition , only available at GameStop, and former NBA All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony on the superstar edition.

The standard version and WNBA edition will cost $69.99, while the “Leave No Doubt” edition featuring all three players is $149.99. The decision to put Gilgeous-Alexander on the cover makes sense in some eyes because he recently won a championship and was named NBA Finals MVP.

The same could be said for Reese, who has taken the WNBA by storm over the past two seasons because of her ability to be a proficient scorer and rebounder. Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony has drawn considerable attention because he is a fan favorite and also the third member of the 2003 NBA draft class to be on a special version of the video game.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James was featured on the NBA 2K19 legend version, while former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade was on the legend edition for NBA 2K20. Furthermore, Carmelo Anthony's inclusion on the superstar edition received 516,775 likes and 8,773 comments on Instagram.

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The former All-Star forward's latest accomplishment even received a reaction from his son and Syracuse Orange commit Kiyan Anthony.

“Hurddd,” Kiyan Anthony wrote on his Instagram story on Wednesday. He is expected to make his college basketball debut as a member of Syracuse’s men’s basketball team this fall.

Meanwhile, NBA 2K26 arrives in retailers such as GameStop and Walmart on Sept. 5.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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