NBA 2K13 is running a Twitter campaign enticing folks to fill in tiny squares on a jigsaw puzzle to reveal the next star or stars gracing the basketball title's cover. Pastapadre has obtained an image that, while not the cover art itself, contains three extremely unsubtle hints about who the honorees will be.
In the image, which you should go check out at the link below, A couple of griffins rest on a bed of roses above a tarantula. That means Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, and most intriguing, Kevin Durant (the "Durantula") of the Oklahoma City Thunder, facing elimination in the NBA Finals tonight. That's what I take the spider to mean, unless they're putting John Salley on the cover. I'm sure producer Rob Jones would like that but it probably wouldn't sell.
Anyway, Durant is absolutely one of the most visible and admirable stars in the present-day NBA, so selecting him is a no-brainer. It is intriguing because he was to have been the cover star for the ill-fated NBA Elite 11, canceled and pulled from retailers a week before its release date in 2010. Durant found out about the cancellation via Twitter. It's possible 2K wanted to get Durant to give everyone a reminder of Elite and the embarrassment it caused EA Sports.
Griffin and Rose also are A-list talents, with Rose doing promotional work for NBA 2K before (including as its "cover" star for the downloadable-only Draft Combine for NBA 2K10.)
Bryan Wiedey, the editor at Pastapadre, didn't say where he'd gotten the image, said to be the completely filled in puzzle Twitterers are trying to unlock. He also noted that the Brooklyn Bridge appears in the distance, which he figured could mean Michael Jordan returns in some capacity. (Jordan was born in Brooklyn—he grew up in North Carolina.) It makes sense—the two sides have promoted the game for two years, and there's no reason they would have cut only a two-year deal, or would want to end it now.
Whether this means all three (or four) are on the same cover, or there will be multiple cover releases as was the case last year with Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, who can tell. My gut feeling is we'll find out the answer next week.
NBA 2K13 Image Suggests Three Current Stars Involved with Cover [Pastapadre]