Candace Parker NBA 2K22 Cover: Historic GameStop Edition is Tribute to WNBA Anniversary
Along with the reveals of Standard and NBA Anniversary Edition of the new NBA 2K game, is a historic cover. A Candace Parker NBA 2K22 cover also arrived for a special edition of the upcoming 2K game. It features the former Los Angeles Sparks and current Chicago Sky WNBA star, Candace Parker on the front, making history. She’s the first WNBA player to land on the cover of an NBA 2K game.
That brought comments from Parker and a funny reaction from basketball great Shaquille O’Neal. Here’s the latest and how to pre-order
WNBA star makes history with 2K cover
This is the first time ever that a WNBA player has been featured on a cover for an NBA 2K video game, and Parker hopes it won’t be the last. The new edition is specifically available from retailer GameStop for pre-order. More details on that below.
The NBA 2K22 cover stars for other game editions include Luka Doncic on the Standard Edition and a trio of stars for the NBA Anniversary Edition. That one includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Durant.
Candace Parker’s racked up plenty of achievements in her basketball career to deserve the nod including multiple MVPs and All-Star appearances.
She’s a six-time WNBA All-Star including the 2021 game that took place Wednesday night. In addition, Parker won the WNBA MVP Award twice in her career. Her stats include career averages of 16.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, and nearly four assists a game with a career field goal percentage of 48 percent.
While she spent the bulk of her career playing for the Los Angeles Sparks, she joined the Chicago Sky in 2021. Now she’s hoping to add her first-ever WNBA Championship as the team appears to be amongst contenders.
Shaq reacts to Candace Parker NBA 2K22 cover
On Wednesday, not long after the Candace Parker NBA 2K22 cover reveal arrived, a video clip featured the WNBA star talking about the exciting news. Also in the clip with her was another notable star from previous video games, Shaquille O’Neal.
He’s been a featured part of 2K with the NBA on TNT commentary crew giving pre-game and post-game commentary. However, he’s also a playable character in pretty much each 2K with special Shaq cards released in MyTeam mode.
Just below Candace’s 2K22 cover is a Bleacher Report video clip in which Shaq reacts to the historic announcement.
“Get out of here Shaq,” Candace said as the big man removed his glasses to wipe away tears.
Candace then went on to talk about what an honor it is to make history as the first WNBA star to get on the game’s cover. This is the WNBA 25th Anniversary Edition with Parker getting the nod as cover star.
“I think as a kid you grow up with Slam covers all over your bedroom ceiling. As a hooper, you grow up wanting your own show, and you grow up wanting to be on a video game,” she said of the cover honor.
“So, for this to happen, I mean, I just remember growing up playing with Shaq. Like playing with my brothers against Shaq and getting it down low for him to do his hook. And, you know, as your days kind of get fewer in your career and you know there’s more basketball behind you than in front of you, I think you really take these moments. And so this means a lot,” Parker said.
“You know I hope that I’m the first but I’m not the last,” Parker added of the achievement for WNBA players.
WNBA GameStop Edition available for Next-Gen consoles
2K hasn’t revealed any extras for the Candace Parker NBA 2K22 GameStop Edition. So far it’s labeled as an exclusive cover for the WNBA Anniversary edition. It’s possible it will include bonus 2K or WNBA content, but that hasn’t been specified. The NBA Anniversary Edition, which carries a higher price point seems to include the most bonuses of any of the new NBA 2K22 game editions so far.
While retailer GameStop has all NBA 2K22 editions for pre-order, they are the specific retailer for the Candace Parker NBA 2K22 WNBA edition. The game is shown as available for the next-generation consoles. Gamers can select to pre-order it for $69.99 for either the Sony PlayStation 5 or Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S consoles.
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