Indiana Pacers: Paul George Unveiled As NBA 2K17 Cover Athlete
Indiana Pacers superstar Paul George has been named the cover athlete for the upcoming NBA 2k17 video game, adding yet another accomplishment to his resume.
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George has gained a great deal of notoriety over the last few years, and the fame has grown larger as he will grace the cover of the much-popular NBA 2K video game series’ next release.
Introducing one of the best at @NBA2K to grace #NBA2K17's cover: @Yg_Trece! #THISISNOTAGAME https://t.co/7RYm9uQjxx pic.twitter.com/MJELc3Daef
— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) June 2, 2016
George enjoyed arguably the best season of his young career in 2015. He averaged 23.1 points, 4.1 assists and 7.0 rebounds through 81 games for the Pacers — returning from a gruesome leg injury suffered in a Team USA Basketball scrimmage before the start of the 2014 season that had some experts questioning whether or not he’d ever return to his All-Star form.
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Each year, the 2K franchise has chosen one of the top performing athletes of the given season to become the cover athlete on their game. Some of the cover athletes in prior years have included:
- NBA 2K16 – Fans receive copies with either Stephen Curry, James Harden or Anthony Davis on the cover.
- NBA 2K15 – Kevin Durant
- NBA 2K14 – LeBron James
- NBA 2K13 – Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose all appear on the cover of the game.
At first glance, fans of the 2K video game may have figured that a player along the likes of Curry, Russell Westbrook or Kawhi Leonard would have been on the cover of the upcoming game due to their teams’ successes in both the regular season and playoffs.
After all, the Pacers did lose in the first round of the playoffs and were the 7th-seeded team in the weak Eastern Conference. Then again, George was a pivotal reason for the Pacers even being in the playoffs in the first place — and was the anchor of a team that forced the 2nd-seed Toronto Raptors to seven games.
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George does do a lot for the 2K company however, and has expressed that he himself is an avid player of the game, so perhaps those are two main reasons that he finds himself on the cover.
NBA 2K17 is scheduled to be released in September.