A Nuggets legend will be on the cover of NBA 2K26’s Superstar Edition

2K Sports revealed the cover athletes for the newest edition of its NBA 2K franchise this week, and a former Nuggets legend graced the Superstar Edition of the game. Becoming a cover athlete for the annual video games is always seen as a good achievement and a recognition of talent from the rest of the NBA world.

Stay ME7O. Stay legendary. 👌

Carmelo Anthony is your #NBA2K26 Superstar Edition Cover Athlete!

Pre-order NBA 2K26 today! pic.twitter.com/eNeUJYZwLT

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 9, 2025

Carmelo Anthony was revealed as one of the three cover athletes for this year’s game, joining Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is the featured athlete on the main cover, and Chicago Sky center Angel Reese, who is on the cover of the WBNA edition.

The moment is now 🤩

🎙️ Voiced by the iconic Spike Lee pic.twitter.com/qeQVvvY00o

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) July 9, 2025

For Nuggets fans who were looking to see Anthony on the cover repping the Mile High City, he is instead on there in his New York Knicks uniform. In the promo video, 2K was at least kind enough to put in a one second clip of him putting on his Nuggets hat on draft night, but the rest of the clips featuring him were from his times with the Knicks.

This is the second time that a Nuggets player — either during their time in Denver or after — was on the cover of the game. The only other one? Danilo Gallinari, who was the main man on the Italy Edition of 2k17.

Who had that one on the bingo card?

Melo getting this honor in a Knicks jersey is just another piece to the never-ending debate of whether or not he should have his No. 15 hanging in the rafters in Ball Arena at some point of the future, and the greater conversation about his legacy as a Nugget. People tend to remember him more during his time with the Knicks, perhaps due to recency bias and the face that his biggest moments received more attention because they happened in Madison Square Garden instead of the Pepsi Center, but he still had plenty of great moments in Denver.

Anthony played one more season in Denver than in New York and averaged 24.8 points per game in the Mile High City compared to 24.7 in the Big Apple. However, he was only able to lead the Knicks to the playoffs three times, his first three seasons with the team, while he made it in every single year that he was in a Nuggets uniform. However, his lack of success in Denver, as he made it out of the first round just once in seven attempts, puts a big stain on his legacy with the Nuggets and what he was able to accomplish with them.

Nikola Jokic being one of the best players in the history of the league, not just in Denver, while rocking Melo’s No. 15 also doesn’t help his case as to why he should get a jersey retired in Denver. People have brought up the idea of a joint retirement, but the fact that Jokic is on the same level as some of the league’s all-time greats, while Anthony left town in nasty fashion in 2011, has swayed people to believe that he shouldn’t get his number retired here, and that he’s better off being remembered as a Knick.

This is a nice honor for Anthony, whose greatness will most likely get swept under the rug because he played with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, just like so many other great stars from the 2000s. However, it shows that everyone thinks as him as a Knick, not a Nugget, despite what he did in Denver at the start of his career.

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