NBA 2K9 taps KG for cover

Take-Two reveals Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett as celeb spokesman for hoops game as NBA Finals get underway.

With the Boston Celtics facing the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, 2K Sports announced just prior to tip-off that one of the sport's biggest stars would grace the cover of NBA 2K9 this fall.

"The Big Ticket" is not an ironic nickname.

Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett will front copies of the latest hoops sim from Visual Concepts and offer his input to the development team as it implements unspecified new features and upgrades to the long-running series. As with last year's edition, the game will appear on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360.

An 11-time All-Star and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year, Garnett is one of Boston's "Big Three" along with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. His nearly $24 million salary made him the highest-paid player in the league this year, but a championship earned against the Celtics' biggest rival would go a long way to justifying every penny of it.

135 Comments

  • dawnquest

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    Hmmm... I might have to pass on this one. As I got from somewhere K.G. = Krazy Guy. I'm not going to support a nutcase like GarNutt

  • slick911

    Posted Jul 9, 2008 1:15 pm PT

    Any things possssssssibllllllleeeeeee
    im on top of the worlddddddddddddddd
    im certified mama

  • abduba

    Posted Jul 6, 2008 9:53 am PT

    they should put more feature, like in live. i hope you can transfer your association mode coz my lakers team is doing crazy good in 2k8

  • biggama

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 7:39 pm PT

    ripdareaper92 is possibly the dumbest assface ive read on this site. they beat the lakers and that "MVP" of theirs. by the way he WON it not one it. they are the best and KG deserves it. if u know nothing about sports pleeeeaaaase stay off the message boards b/c u just end up looking dumb as hell. they are a historical powerhouse pansy b!tch...if u know what historical is.

  • stickstick86

    Posted Jun 19, 2008 12:22 pm PT

    goooooooooooooo celticssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!! CHAMPIONSSSS OF DA WORLD!!!!

  • gin_rummy89

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 11:02 pm PT

    GO CELTICS!
    I've waited all 18 years of my life to see them take a championship.

  • Tisfree

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 3:39 pm PT

    KG is a good choice, definitely one of the best in the league. He's not even in his prime anymore and he still dominates. Its not his fault that during his prime years he was stuck on bad teams, power forwards aren't capable of making a bad team good on their own, they need players.

  • ripdareaper92

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 3:44 pm PT

    First of all kevin garnett shouldn't be on the cover, granted he is a great player and one of the best power forwards in the game but i thought the cover should've went to the best player this year and that was Kobe Bryant. Geez the man one the MVP and 1st Team ALL-NBA come on. (Secondly i want the Lakers to win my original teams are the Mavericks and the Clippers.) Third how can people sit there and say Boston is a powerhouse in the east. They ain't sh!t. In order to be a power house you have to go to the playoffs consisently, when was the last time they were in the playoffs, Powerhouses in the east include Pistons, Cavaliers and maybe the Magic. When and if the Celtics make the playoffs for the next three years, then I would say they are a powerhouse until then, they're just a team with a 60 win season. A cinderella story if you may. -Ace

  • is0lati0n

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 12:38 am PT

    Just looking at the graphics, I can tell this game will once again be 'King of Basketball Sims'.

  • etchus

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 4:30 am PT

    GO CELTICS!!!!!

  • godzillavskong

    Posted Jun 8, 2008 3:44 pm PT

    Good choice. Should've went oldschool and put Larry Bird and Magic on the cover.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 9:04 pm PT

    thats my favriot nba player so im glad he gets paid, and it is a good game but i can care less about 2k

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 7:29 pm PT

    lol; still laugh at pierce's "bad" injury. haha

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 1:47 pm PT

    The Big 3. Do you mean Duncan, Parker and Ginobli(Think thats right). Shouldnt guys who win titles be on the cover? Like I said before, if its gotta be a Celtic, it has to be either Eric Montross or Dee Brown. They dominated the game like no other. There 5 titles will forever go down in Boston Barnmen history. (Thats what they were called before they changed it to the Celtics in 2001)

  • The-Prodigy

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 1:02 pm PT

    Im down with with edub272 idea

  • theGrynch

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 12:22 pm PT

    Go Celtics.

  • edub272

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 11:35 am PT

    THE BIG 3 should be on the cover which would be the first sports sim to have multiple players on the cover. If there was ever a time to put more than one player on the cover, its now. THE BIG 3 would sell a videogames like nuts

  • rocketraydog

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 8:27 am PT

    THE CELTICS ARE THE BEST LETS WIN THE CHAMPION SHIP GO KG

  • seanito1234

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 7:37 am PT

    YEAAAAAA KG ALL DAY!!!!!!! GO CELTICS ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!

    CANT WIT 2 GET THIS GAME KG!!!

  • girst

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 4:42 am PT

    good choice

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 1:54 am PT

    They should put Jesus on the cover in Celtics uniform. I mean it makes sense, that the only way to explain how P.Pierce healed in like 2 minutes after being carried off the court like a corpse. Kobe should so pretend to hurt himself during game 3 and have them bring a stretcher to the court and then like 5 minutes later,return to a heros welcome like pierce did. That was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

  • blackace

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 7:14 pm PT

    Illverson, it's a great game, don't get me wrong. I'm on my 3rd season and I play 82 games seasons. lol!! If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have played it so much. I just want them to fix the bugs that have been in the game since NBA 2K6 and the new bugs they created by adding all that uncontrollable animation to the game. If they fix the things I've listed, the game will be just about perfect.

  • IIIverson

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 6:57 pm PT

    blackace you make it sound like this game has nothing good to it, its an overall great game,and like every other game it has some problems

  • blackace

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 6:23 pm PT

    I'm just finishing my 3rd season of NBA 2K8, so I'll be ready for this game at launch. I'm hoping and praying 2K finally fixes all the bugs from 2K2 & 2K8. I'm tired of watching the ball pass through my hands, legs, torso and head when the computer passes the ball to another player. Please put in Quarterly team and player stats. At the end of the game you can't few stats by each quarter? Why the hell not? Stop omitting the starts from the 1st quarter. This bug was in 2K7 and 2K8. Fix it this time. Last but not least, give us our control back. I'm tired of not having control of my players when the computer opponent takes out the ball or is guarding another player. I'm guarding an opponent he does a fake shot and the player I'm controlling jumps up in the air on his own without me telling him to. I hate dumb crap like that. FIX IT!!

    Wheewww..ok, I said my piece. There were a lot more problems with 2K8, yet it was still better then NBA Live 08. I can only pray that 2K9 gets everything right this time.

  • brownkid23

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 4:51 pm PT

    boston owns the lakers
    Lakers are gonna knocked one time yo

  • clawboy

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 4:20 pm PT

    Not a Celtic fan but this is the perfect cover guy. And yes I agree vinallen 2k is the best basketball game.

  • vinallen

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 2:58 pm PT

    thats nice nba 2k is the best basketball game i ever played EA SUCKS!!!

  • cooldude03

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 1:42 pm PT

    Take-Two and sports that's the reason EA wants to buy them out so bad. NO Take-Two no competion in the sporting areana. Play on, 2K Sports.

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 1:29 pm PT

    Celtics Baby! Whoooo! Serously who sprains their knee, comes back, and plays better. Awesome. A guy who was never hurt that bad in the 1st place. Should have gotten Bill Curley for the cover.

  • prioritymail

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 11:54 am PT

    Pretty cool, good choice

  • joey2683

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 11:48 am PT

    Celtics Baby! Whoooo! Serously who sprains their knee, comes back, and plays better. Awesome.

  • etramleinad12

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 11:18 am PT

    At least there is no curse attached to this cover.

  • TheGum

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 11:10 am PT

    I hope they choose a more exciting picture for this big man because the Shaq covers were all boring.

  • mickbran21

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 10:38 am PT

    JHUUUEEE Are you kidding me? The Celtics have one of the best franchises in the the league period. They have the most championships of any franchise and probably the most greatest-of-all-time players that have played in the organization. People don't re-like the Celtics, people have been devoted to them for years. There is nothing wrong with fans being reinvigorated because their team aquired some new players that can actually play and vie for a championship. It hard to stand up and cheer for your own team when they suck, but Boston is renewed and are rediculous this year. Let fans be fans, stop being a hater.

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 10:05 am PT

    What does "Big Ticket " mean anyways? Are they saying that he's so good that I would buy a ticket to see him. Thats kinda lame. KG should get a nickname refund. Also, why do they keep comparing Kobe to MJ. There will never be another MJ. He was a one man team. Lets these other players have there own legacy already.

  • DarkProwl

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 9:58 am PT

    Now I'm glad he left the Wolves. They really held him back. Being on the Celtics is the best thing to happen to KG since the 03-04 season.

    And is it just me or did every sport take nearly every good player Minnesota had just so we'd pay more attention to hockey and lacrosse? [/conspiracy theory]

  • Wima5ter-134

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 9:56 am PT

    of course Garnett couldn't get himself on a sports game until he was traded to a "GOOD" team. So stupid.

  • necronaux

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 9:50 am PT

    And they didn't wait 'til he retired like they did with Brett.

  • bukkookkub

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 9:28 am PT

    Big surprise. He definately deserves it.

  • ajw4pc

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 9:11 am PT

    Calm down you celtic fans. Its only one game Lakers will win game two and win the series in 6 games.

  • JSharpe_187

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:55 am PT

    OK, So tell me how does the best player on the best team not deserve the cover? If it was the best player in the legue, Lebron would be spokesman, but his team kinda sucked. Kevin Garnet is the best player on the best team in the legue, and therefore he deserves the cover.

  • ThisIsntLeonard

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:51 am PT

    a. T-Mac is a almost-but-not-quite star. In the NFL, he'd only be a Carson Palmer, or a Tony Romo, rather than a Manning or Brady. He hasn't proven himself yet. b. Rather than seeing is as a money-spending superorganization, see it more as three deserving players (KG, Pierce, and Allen) getting a shot at what they should've had a long time ago: an NBA title.

    c. the referreeing has been atrocious throughout the playoffs, both against the celtics and lakers. did you miss the "offensive foul" against Pierce in the BOS-DET series? the one that should've been another 4-point play?

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:26 am PT

    For real though, KG does deserve it. I mean he did win the MVP and....wait a minute.....whys he on the cover again? Ah my boy KG. Ya finally made it to the finals, and all it took was a team willing to spend stupid amounts of money for other players to hide your faults. Enjoy the title Boston, ya paid enough for it.

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:16 am PT

    The cover should be Artest punching that fan at the palace. That should also be a mode in the gameplay.

  • jackson84

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:00 am PT

    Thats a good look for the C's and my dude KG

  • incred_davis

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:00 am PT

    KG deserves it, hes a great dude. im sick of boston and boston sports honestly.. im rooting for the lakers even tho i love KG. it almost looked like the nba was gonna put bos vs lal no matter what, even if they had to call games to make shur these 2 teams were in the finals. they want ratings now they will have them. the nba is fixed now anyway with cheating refs so who cares, whoever david stern wants to win will win

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