On July 9, NBA 2K, which is the world's most popular professional basketball video game, revealed that Chicago Sky superstar Angel Reese is gracing the cover for the WNBA edition of NBA 2K26. Reese is seen driving to the basket in the cover while wearing her brand-new signature shoes from Reebok.
She’s got next.
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 9, 2025
Angel Reese is your #NBA2K26 WNBA Edition Cover Athlete!
Pre-order NBA 2K26 today at the in bio pic.twitter.com/oE4gg8HK5h
While the cover itself has received mostly positive reactions, some fans have complained that other players were more deserving than Reese for receiving this honor. Of course, some women's basketball "fans" always find a way to nitpick Reese's accomplishments and accolades for various reasons. But the bottom line is that this is an awesome deal for a player who has only spent one full season in professional basketball.
Another WNBA icon who knows what being on an NBA 2K cover is like is New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, who was NBA 2K24's cover athlete for the WNBA edition.
The torch has been passed @sabrina_i20's got next, as our #NBA2K24 WNBA Edition Cover Athlete
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 7, 2023
Pre-order today ➡️ https://t.co/ddxX7XMZI8 #SeeYouOnTheCourt pic.twitter.com/m44mXFCWHD
Ionescu spoke with the media after her team's practice on July 11 and got honest about Reese being this year's cover star.
"Knowing the significance and the importance of how cool it is to be on the cover of 2K, like, video games are played worldwide," Ionescu said, per an X post from Madeline Kenney of the New York Post.
"Everyone knows who's on the cover every single year. There's this anticipation and I'm really happy for [Angel] to be able to see her kind of get her flowers so early in on her career just knowing that I was able to be on it and how much that meant for my family," she added.
Sabrina Ionescu said it was iconic the way Angel Reese debuted her signature shoe on the cover of NBA2K26.
— Madeline Kenney (@madkenney) July 11, 2025
"I feel like it was knocking two birds with one stone," she said.
More of what Sab said after practice today: pic.twitter.com/ITaH1XXUwV
Ionescu has spoken extremely highly of all the WNBA's young crop of superstars, and Reese is clearly no exception.
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