Stephen Curry, James Harden and Anthony Davis named cover athletes for NBA 2K16
This year’s version of the NBA 2K game will be directed by Spike Lee and will feature three young MVP candidates: Stephen Curry, James Harden and Anthony Davis.
After previous years where the direction of the NBA 2K games were spearheaded by Jay-Z or even LeBron James and his vague, non-confrontational vision, NBA 2K16 will be “A Spike Lee Joint.” And rather than choosing just one like those previous years, Lee played the safe route and has chosen three cover athletes.
Your official #NBA2K16 cover featuring Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Anthony Davis! pic.twitter.com/kOewphJ4pU
— Ballers Hype (@BallersHype) June 4, 2015
Any of those three make sense to grace the cover. It’s too boring to pick LeBron James or Kevin Durant, or even a NBA legend like Michael Jordan. They all have their obvious benefits.
- Stephen Curry is a potential champion who is the most exciting (and marketable) player in the NBA right now.
- Anthony Davis as the cover athlete who will probably look good in the future when he has enslaved the rest of the NBA, ruling over his thralls with omniscient benevolence.
- James Harden has a groovy beard.
But Lee and the 2K team could have picked just one. Nobody would have faulted them or claimed that someone was snubbed.
Anyway, NBA 2K16 appears to be headed in the direction of narrative rather than just focusing on gameplay. Lee has been heavily involved in shaping the MyCareer feature.
Form USA Today:
"“We added MyCareer in 2012, and we’ve always been trying to make it more and more of a real story, like a film with drama,” 2K spokesman Ryan Peters says. “We just told Spike, ‘You transform the narrative, and we’ll change that into digital polygons.’ And he did that, bringing a protagonist and antagonist to the story.”"
Antagonist?! Is it going to be a bizarro version of your own MyCareer player? If my player is named Luke Dahlgren, is my antagonist Ekul Nerglhad? Does he prefer cheese pizza? Oh I hope so.
The expanded MyCareer is exactly what NBA 2K16 will need to add if the game will like to keep its players trapped to the screen. The MyCareer feature already takes so long to complete that adding a narrative element will make it impossible for many 2K players to live their real lives.
The lead up to the NBA Finals is generally when NBA 2K announces their new game. It doesn’t make any sense; the media attention will be focused on the real game rather than the video game announcement.
(H/T: USA Today)