Toronto Raptors franchise leading scorer, gold medalist at the 2016 Olympics and 2014 World Championships, three-time NBA all-star, two-time Eastern Conference Player of the Month, 2017 All-NBA member, Drew League legend…
And now you can add “2K cover athlete” to the list of DeMar DeRozan‘s career accomplishments.
The Raptors star will grace the cover of NBA 2K18, the first ever Canadian-exclusive cover released in the popular video game series:
“It wasn’t necessarily a goal,” DeRozan says of being on the cover. “But when the opportunity came around I couldn’t believe it. I was at a loss for words.”
DeRozan says it’s not lost on him that this is the first time a Raptor will be featured on the cover.
“Being part of the whole process here, eight years, it’s been amazing to see everything develop— from Toronto hosting the all-star weekend to us making the Eastern Conference Final. Something like this— being on the cover— isn’t just for me, it’s for Canada. Period,” he says. “Us being the only team in the country and sometimes not getting the full recognition we deserve, things like this help us to go bigger.”
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“I remember being a kid and creating myself in the game,” DeRozan recalls. “It looked nothing like me, but it was just cool to see my name on the back of a jersey.” Did DeRozan give himself a 99 rating? “Of course. And I played on rookie.”
With creepily-accurate player likeness, DeRozan is practically lifelike in the game. “It’s crazy to see over the years of me being in the video game how much it has evolved.”
These days DeRozan still actively plays the game — he says Norm Powell is probably the best player on the Raptors — and he swears he exclusively plays as the Raptors.
The 2K series is known for it’s realism, but DeRozan has pulled off some moves he says he never could in a real game. “I remember once I did a between-the-legs-360 dunk in traffic during a game. But that’s the fun part of being in a video game.”
DeRozan joins fellow all-star Kyrie Irving as a 2K18 cover athlete. Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is featured on the cover for the “Legend edition” of the game.
“I’ve never been into tracking my rating,” DeRozan says, but the 2K series has been kind to him as of late nonetheless. In 2K17 DeRozan started with an overall rating of 87 before advancing to set career-highs across the board, including points (27.3) and rebounds (5.2) per game. By the season’s end, he was the fourth-highest shooting guard with a rating of 89.
What do you think DeRozan’s rating should be this season?
NBA 2K18 comes out on September 19th.
