There has been an increasing effort to create more things for NBA 2K fans to do outside of their MyCareer and Park games when they boot up the game. In an effort to imitate real NBA players' off-the-court business ventures, creating a Record Label and a Fashion Label were introduced as part of the MyCareer storyline. 2K Sports seems to be aiming for a push further into the music side with the announcement of its newest NBA 2K23 cover athlete.
A week before NBA 2K23 is set to launch, 2K Sports is announcing that rapper J. Cole will be the cover athlete for its Dreamer Edition cover. This is a first in the NBA 2K franchise, as a non-NBA or WNBA player will grace a cover variation in the basketball video game franchise. As of writing, there is no additional information about what will be in this GameStop exclusive NBA 2K23 Edition. This edition will only be available on the new-gen consoles.
NBA 2K23 also revealed the first MyCareer story trailer where J. Cole makes an appearance as a non-playable character. The NBA released a quote from J. Cole which indicates that he, his Dreamville label, Dreamer Fashion Label, and two of J. Cole's signed artists, Bas and Elite, will play a key role in the MyCareer story and the 2K City. In NBA 2K22, rapper The Game played a bit role as an antagonist to the player as part of the questline towards starting a Record Label, so this inclusion may look to bring that activity into more of a consequential step in the MyCareer story.
Though never an NBA Player, J. Cole has played in high school, in college at NCAA Division 1 St. John's University, and played professional basketball sparingly. He played some games in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League with the Rwanda Patriots BBC in 2021 as part of the NBA's global initiative, and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. J. Cole references basketball often in his music with his debut mixtape "The Warm-Up" and on two of his albums " A Sideline Story" and "The Off-Season."
The 2K franchises have made music a focal point of the game, either through curated playlists from musicians like Jay-Z and Drake in the past, or in-game cameos like The Game and interactions with Portland Trailblazers star Damian Lillard's "Dame Dolla" persona. It's a move that makes this game more unique from the other entries, but without releasing the incentives of this NBA 2K23 special edition, it's unclear if the 2K Community will consider this option.
NBA 2K23 will release on September 9 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
