NBA 2K18 Will Release New Cover After The Big Kyrie Irving Trade

Yesterday, the Celtics and the Cavs announced a blockbuster trade sending Kyrie Irving to Boston and Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland. This put NBA 2K18 in something of an awkward position, as Irving will be shown on the game's cover still in a Cavs jersey. Now, 2K has issued a statement on the matter and also confirmed that it will release a version of NBA 2K18 with Irving in a Celtics jersey "at a later date."

"We are excited to be part of one of the most memorable NBA offseasons in history with Kyrie, our 2K18 cover athlete, and Isaiah, one of the stars of our 2K roster, trading places," 2K's SVP of basketball operations, Jason Argent, said in a statement.

"This isn't an unprecedented event, a cover athlete being traded--but it's certainly interesting timing with 2K18 being released in less than a month. The good news is that as the most authentic and realistic basketball game on the market, we're used to being nimble and responding to changes in the NBA. Fans should be thrilled to know that we will issue a version of 2K18 featuring Kyrie in a Boston Celtics uniform at a later date."

This is technically 2K's second response to the trade, as the official NBA 2K Twitter account yesterday said "whoops" in a tweet about NBA 2K18's cover.

2K's marketing team might have had more time to prepare for this, as Irving had reportedly been asking for a trade for a while now. Though the move to the Celtics for Thomas (and Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a draft pick) came as a surprise to many.

DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors is on the cover of NBA 2K18 in Canada, so the Irving trade doesn't affect everyone everywhere. Also, you can pick up one the special editions that feature Shaquille O'Neal on the cover.

NBA 2K18 officially launches on September 19 for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.