NBA 2K23: The cultural connections between the sport of basketball and the music business are recognised and celebrated in a new limited-edition version.
NBA 2K enthusiasts have more to do outside MyCareer and Park games. MyCareer includes developing a Record Label and a Fashion Label to mimic NBA players’ off-court businesses. 2K Sports looks to be pushing into music with the NBA 2K23 cover athlete.
J. Cole will be the cover athlete for NBA 2K23’s Dreamer Edition a week before its release. It’s the first time a non-NBA or WNBA player has graced an NBA 2K cover. No other details are available regarding this GameStop-exclusive NBA 2K23 Edition. Only new-gen consoles will get this edition.
NBA 2K23: J. Cole in Dreamer Edition
NBA 2K23 also presented the first MyCareer narrative video with J. Cole. The NBA posted a remark from J. Cole indicating that he, his Dreamville label, Dreamer Fashion Label, and Bas and Elite would play a prominent part in MyCareer and 2K City. In NBA 2K22, rapper The Game had a small role as an enemy to the player as part of the Record Label questline, thus this addition may attempt to make that behaviour more relevant in the MyCareer tale.
J. Cole never played in the NBA, although he played in high school, college, and professionally. He played in the NBA’s first Basketball Africa League with the Rwanda Patriots BBC in 2021 and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. J. Cole mentions basketball in “The Warm-Up,” “A Sideline Story,” and “The Off-Season.”
2K franchises have made music a focus, whether via curated playlists from Jay-Z and Drake or in-game appearances like The Game and Damian Lillard’s “Dame Dolla” character. Without knowing the incentives of NBA 2K23’s special edition, it’s unknown whether the 2K Community would consider it.
NBA 2K23 releases on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on September 9.
