Monday was a big night for the Philadelphia 76ers’ two biggest stars. First, the answer of whether Ben Simmons is actually a rookie or not was finally answered, as Philadelphia’s 6’11 point guard was named the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year. Joel Embiid got his own honor a little later in the evening, but his had nothing to do with his on-court performance during this past season.
Embiid was named the cover athlete for The ONE Edition of EA Sports’ NBA LIVE 19. The cover depicts Embiid in his all-white Sixers uni in front of a red background.
Introducing the new face of NBA LIVE, @JoelEmbiid in The ONE Edition.
Available September 7th #NBALIVE19 pic.twitter.com/Z2TGZDDLBl
— EA SPORTS NBA LIVE (@EASPORTSNBA) June 26, 2018
This marks the first time that Embiid his made his way onto a video game cover. As the Sixers’ big man told EA Sports, “It’s great, it’s amazing. I’m thankful for this opportunity, especially as a basketball player. You work so hard because you have goals in life, you want to be in the Hall of Fame but also, being on the cover of a video game is something I’ve always dreamed of and I’m happy to be in this position.”
Prior to this news being announced, the Inside the NBA crew had a little bit of fun, showing off a few rejected NBA LIVE 19 covers before revealing Embiid’s honor.
From rejected covers to your new @EASPORTSNBA cover athlete… @JoelEmbiid 💪 pic.twitter.com/5VxL21udlK
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 26, 2018
As EA Sports’ tweet reminds fans of its basketball series, the game will drop on Sept. 7. It remains to be seen if Embiid will be the only Sixers player to grace a cover of a major video game company’s NBA game once the 2018-19 season rolls around, or if Philadelphia will manage to get NBA 2K19‘s cover athlete on its roster next year, too.
