OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has spent these past 12 months reseting record books left and right.
From becoming the only player in league history to ink a contract with an average salary of $71.25 million to guiding his club to their first championship of the Oklahoma City era, the point guard has unquestionably solidified himself as an all-time great within the franchise's luscious lineage.
Now, it seems Gilgeous-Alexander is on the verge of setting new milestones beyond just the confines of the 30-team NBA, as ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania recently reported that sources informed him that the 26-year-old "will grace the new cover of NBA 2K26," which would make him the first Canadian-born baller to serve as the game's featured figure.
Thunder star set to become first Canadian to be NBA 2K cover athlete
Considering the season he just put forth, his selection to be the newest face of the NBA 2K franchise should come as little surprise to anyone.
Simply put, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was playing on another level compared to the rest of the association during the 2024-25 campaign.
The seventh-year pro earned his third-straight All-Star and All-NBA nods while dropping sensational averages of 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 51.9 percent shooting from the floor and 37.5 percent shooting from deep in 76 games played.
On top of all this, SGA became the fourth player in history to average 32+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and win NBA MVP all in the same year, joined Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to win a championship, MVP and scoring title in a single season, and reset the mark for the shortest time to register a player's first four 50+ point games.
With all of this, Gilgeous-Alexander has inarguably set himself up to be in the conversation for greatest Thunder player of all time. Following the epic conclusion of this year's campaign, some have already gone on to anoint him as so.
However, what may prove to be the most exciting and emotionally charged accolade is the Toronto-born, Hamilton-raised star becoming the first Canadian native to have his face featured on the cover of the world-famous 2K series.
Just a few months back, people were legitimately (and embarrassingly) trying to make the argument that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could never be tabbed as the face of the league due to his international status.
In an ironic turn of fate, if Charania's sources are correct, the NBA will now have a representative of Canada serving as the literal face of what some could realistically argue as the game's greatest advertisement.