Jayson Tatum is the latest cover athlete to be featured in NBA 2K. It has been a childhood dream of his to be on the cover of an NBA 2K game. Tatum shared with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he grew up playing NBA 2K games and finds it surreal now being a featured athlete.

“It's an honor to be teamed up with NBA 2K,” Tatum said. “I grew up playing NBA 2K as a kid. Been a part of them for seven years now.  To be on the cover of NBA 2K is what you literally dream about growing up.”

Jayson Tatum is the NBA 2K25 cover athlete

Jayson Tatum holds the Larry OíBrien trophy
© Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Jayson Tatum is the official cover athlete of NBA 2K25. This has a lot to do with his most recent championship win against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals. While it doesn't always happen, 2K Games typically selects cover athletes who either won the MVP award or the NBA title. It's also safe to say that Tatum justified his being an NBA 2K cover athlete after winning his second Olympic gold medal in France.

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Looking at his numbers last season, Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. He was named to the All-NBA First Team and finished sixth in the regular season MVP race. However, not everybody agrees with Tatum being the cover athlete.

Did Jaylen Brown deserve to be the NBA 2K25 cover athlete?

Jayson Tatum (0) and guard Jaylen Brown (7) on the court
© David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Some fans on social media expressed how Jaylen Brown was robbed of being the cover athlete of NBA 2K25. Looking at why they think so, it's probably because Brown became the NBA Finals MVP over Tatum. Some fans also thought that 2K Games should've at least added both Brown and Tatum on the cover. To be fair, the Boston Celtics do have to be credited to both athletes for leading them to their 18th title in franchise history. If it wasn't for them, the Celtics would still be tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for having 17 titles respectively.

However, if we're going to take a closer look at Brown's individual performance, we could argue that Tatum had a better season. Compared to what Tatum achieved last season, the only thing Brown has over him is the NBA Finals MVP award. Other than that, Jaylen wasn't named in any All-NBA or wasn't even in the regular season MVP discussion. Nevertheless, nobody can discredit his efforts to help his team win the title last season.