Has Jayson Tatum Done Enough to Grace the Cover of NBA 2K23?

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has had himself quite the year.

For context, here’s what the 24-year-old has accomplished since the end of last NBA season:

• Career high PPG (26.9), RPG (8), and APG (4.4)
• Third All-Star Appearance
• First Team-All-NBA (2nd overall appearance)
• Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award Winner
• First NBA Finals appearance (hopefully of many)

As much sh*t as I can give Tatum on a night in and night out basis, he’s the Celtics leader and is poised to be a super star in this league for many many years to come.

What’s next for the young star? He now has the chance to be the cover athlete of NBA 2K23.

According to BetOnline.ag, Tatum has 6/1 odds to grace the cover. Here is their full list of odds:

NBA 2K23 Cover Athlete

Steph Curry                +120

Ja Morant                   +150

Devin Booker             +300

Jayson Tatum          +600

Nikola Jokic                +900

Joel Embiid                +900

LaMelo Ball              +2500

Trae Young               +3300

Two of the three players ahead of Tatum – Steph Curry and Ja Morant – have certainly made a case for themselves to be on the cover. Devin Booker? Not so much. He’s great and all, but I would have expected Tatum to have better odds than the Suns guard.

Steph Curry just finished arguably his most impressive season as a pro, capping it off with his fourth NBA title in eight years. The 34-year-old is the greatest shooter in NBA history, is a top-10 player of all time, and he now has the chance to be the cover athlete on 2K for the second time in his career.

Ja Morant is coming off of two incredibly impressive seasons, having won the Rookie of the Year in 2021 and the Most Improved Player award in 2022. Morant led the Grizzlies to the playoffs for the second year in a row and brought them to their first Southwest division title in franchise history. He’s certainly deserving.

Frankly, it’s probably not Tatum’s time. 6/1 is a fun long-ish shot to take, but I’d expect Curry to be on the cover. +120 is a pretty sure bet to me.

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