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Rui Hachimura named a cover athlete of NBA 2K22

Unfortunately, we cannot buy the version of the game with the Washington Wizards forward on the cover

By Albert Lee
2021 NBA Playoffs - Philadelphia 76ers v Washington Wizards
Rui Hachimura is a cover athlete of NBA2K! We just can’t buy it here in American though.
Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

On Wednesday, NBA2K announced that there will be six cover athletes of NBA 2K22 which is scheduled to come out on Sept. 10. First and most importantly, the Washington Wizards will be featured as Rui Hachimura will be featured in the game!

The bad news? Fans here in the DMV can’t buy it. The Hachimura cover is only available for the standard edition Japan, where Hachimura has a bigger following than here in the nation’s capital. He is already going to be one of Japan’s highest-profile athletes in the Olympics, and after a decent sophomore season in Washington, I’m happy that he will be on the cover of the game. at least in Japan.

Who are the other five cover athletes? Unfortunately, no Wizards or Mystics are involved, but here they are:

  • Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic is the main cover athlete. He will be featured in the standard and cross-gen versions of the game.
  • The NBA’s 75th Anniversary is this year, and there is a special cover featuring NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, long-time NBA forward Dirk Nowitzki and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant. Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Nowitzki is the first European to win NBA MVP and the “GOAT” for the Mavericks, who coincidentally have their current franchise player on the regular cover in Doncic. Durant, like Abdul-Jabbar and Nowitzki is a legend himself though he still has plenty left in the tank.
  • Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker will be featured in another version of the standard game. She is the first WNBA athlete featured in NBA2K, which has had WNBA game functionality since 2019 when NBA 2K20 came out. You can only buy this cover at GameStop in the USA and EBGames in Canada.

The 75th Anniversary and Cross-Gen versions feature artwork by artist Charly Palmer. The standard editions feature similar backgrounds but have standard photos of Doncic and Parker. There is no artwork for the Japanese version yet, but we’ll share it when it comes out.

Congratulations to Hachimura and the rest of the athletes for making the cover of NBA 2K22.