Candace Parker is NBA 2K's first female cover athlete

Twenty two years after the debut of NBA 2K, the basketball sim series will feature a woman on the cover of the game for the first time. Two-time WNBA MVP and 2016 WNBA Finals MVP Candace Parker features on the front of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition of NBA 2K22.

Parker is one of several basketball stars to feature on NBA 2K22 packaging. Luka Dončić is the cover athlete on the standard edition of the game, while the NBA 75th Anniversary Edition features Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition is a GameStop exclusive (Canadians can pick it up from EB Games). It's a physical edition for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and it features a bundle of seven exclusive in-game WNBA jerseys, including one for Parker. It costs $70 and it will be available on September 10th.

Although it's taken a long time for 2K to put a female athlete on the cover of an NBA game, it's a positive step forward for representation. NBA 2K20 was the first 2K game to feature WNBA teams and players, and a WNBA version of the MyPlayer career mode debuted in NBA 2K21.

EA has been featuring more women in its sports titles over the last several years. It beat 2K to the punch by featuring WNBA players in NBA Live 18. EA put women on the cover of a FIFA title for the first time in 2015. FIFA 2016 was the first edition of the series to feature women soccer players.