Exclusive: Ronnie 2K Reveals How 'Hands On' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Is

Sometimes, things just fall into place perfectly. It was a year ago at this time when Thunder on SI interviewed Ronnie 2K. The video game's ambassador dropped this nugget at the end of the interview: “I'd like to say [Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander] is a future cover athlete, one day I hope that happens.”

Well, less than 12 months later, Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was tabbed as the NBA 2K26 cover athlete. This on the heels of a scoring championship, his first NBA title and bagging the NBA MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MV P. Fast forward to last week. We sat down with Ronnie 2K again.

"Yeah, I feel like Nostradamus. No, I'm kidding. Look, I mean, the Thunder were coming at some point and Shai's development was a big part of that. And, you know. Yeah, I had shortlisted him as a future cover guy. I didn't know whether it was going to happen the very next year, but I really felt strongly like he was going to be the guy within a couple of years. Obviously, his love for 2K, but his impact on the league, his impact on the culture of the league, and then just the trajectory of that franchise, you know that everything came together," Ronnie 2K explained with a chuckle. 

It should come as a surprise to no one that the Oklahoma City Thunder are littered across the top 100 player list as the NBA 2K26 ratings have rolled out ahead of the Sept. 5 global release. The Thunder are not only one of the most fun t eams to watch, but the reigning champions remain ultra talented.

"Their young guys, gelled, they're such a fun team to watch, and they have a lot. They can sort of beat you in so many ways. They're going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Our ratings this year kind of bear that out. They did last year, too. But I mean, it's pretty crazy, like how well represented OKC is on all of our lists," Ronnie 2K said as the Thunder have five representatives on the Top 100 list.

When discussing Gilgeous-Alexander a year ago, Ronnie revealed that the Thunder superstar is one of the most hands-on players in the league, constantly hitting him up about the video game. So, is the MVP hands-on in the creation of NBA 2K26?

"Oh yeah," Ronnie 2k proudly interrupted, eager to discuss Gilgeous-Alexander's impact. "Yeah. Sorry. When I hear that, I just like knowing the degree that he was involved. It's pretty amazing. We're going to talk about this a little bit more, but like, obviously, the benefits of his empowerment when it comes to music and fashion those were huge. Right. Like, he helped me a lot with like the side cultures of our game and our team, you know, some of that licensing stuff and, and then the other big o ne is gameplay. You know, like he, he really took it seriously." 

A lot of these ideas that Gilgeous-Alexander has proposed to the NBA 2K developers will be implemented into the game. The ones that can't be, the game's frontward face explained to the superstar why that is.

"You know, he had ideas and shared them with our team and you know, we tried to implement those to the best of our ability in terms of what he would like or, or at least provide context on the why it would be different than he thought," Ronnie 2K described working with the OKC Thunder Superstar. "So that dialogue was very open throughout the year, probably more so than it has been in a few years. In terms of an athlete being engaged, that's no shot on the old ones. It's just, you know, He's always been really passionate about the game. He plays the park a ton of hours, and this was important to him, both to be a cover, but also to impact our game positively," Ronnie 2K detailed.

Hearing Ronnie detail how hands-on Gilgeous-Alexander is, how passionate he is about the video game compared to previous cover athletes, is eye-opening. While everyone understands his love for fashion, the hours he spends on NBA 2k is another window into the MVP.