So last year 2K put the greatest player ever on their cover. I naturally expected a step down this year, but instead, they decide to put Michael Jordan on the cover yet again, but then split the production of boxes evenly three ways and also give Larry Bird and Magic Johnson their own covers for this year's game. Kinda crazy to be sporting three separate covers for one game, but I suppose 2K had to up the ante somehow. Anyway, here's what each of the covers look like:

Gallery

And here's a little bit of explanation that I found in an article on ESPN.com:

That's right, 2K Sports is splitting the production run between three legendary boxes this year, as stores will actually receive an equal 33-percent share of Jordan, Magic, and Bird covers from day one, enabling gamers to decide which superstar they want to stare at for the next 12 months between 2K cycles.

"Michael Jordan for us last year was a huge success from a fan standpoint and an in-game standpoint," says Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. "But in 2K Sports fashion, we continue to improve, we continue to evolve and this year we're taking it up a notch by having three covers of the game.

"And to take it up another notch, we're departing from our traditional brand look. We wanted to do something that was really dynamic and really different this year, so we talked with a bunch of sports artists and street artists, and we ended up teaming with a sports photographer named Adam Larson. He has done a ton of high-profile stuff, including an ESPN The Magazine cover, so we partnered with him to create all of the artwork for all three covers for us. All of the artwork is consistent between the covers in terms of look and feel and cover scheme. The only thing different, of course, is the athlete."

"The game under all three covers is the exact same," he explains. "Having Michael, having Magic, and having Larry Bird involved will tie to the game and to some of the features that we'll be unveiling in a couple of weeks, but that's all I can say right now."

Seems like they could be incorporating another Jordan Challenge-esque mode this year featuring each of these three greats. Sounds exciting to me! I know there aren't a lot of basketball fans here, but what do you guys think?

I was expecting them to do something similar to the Jordan challenges again but instead of focusing on one guy, make it some of the NBA's greatest games/moments overall. Seems that they took a step towards that with this.

Seems like a cool idea.  I wonder how they're going to up the ante for NBA2K13

I love that idea and the covers look great(I think I could have did a better job but...) I like bball games but I doubt Ill be picking it up,way to many games this year.

@NickBOTT said:

Seems like a cool idea. I wonder how they're going to up the ante for NBA2K13

Dude, no idea. It can't get better. Than again, that's what I said last year.

@JCTango: I'd like some kind of classic game theater thing, too. That would be awesome. They wouldn't even have to put that stuff on the disc in this digital era. You could just download the video of classic games to your console, or better yet, you could just stream it. Ideas!

Speaking of greats... would you consider Spudd Webb one of the greats?  A guy who's that short that could dunk like that... I'm surprised he doesn't get as much respect as he should.  
 
PS:  I wonder if they will ever have a sorta Jordan-Challenge-esque type historical Slam Dunk Competition type mode... that would be pretty awesome :D

@JCTango said:

Speaking of greats... would you consider Spudd Webb one of the greats? A guy who's that short that could dunk like that... I'm surprised he doesn't get as much respect as he should. PS: I wonder if they will ever have a sorta Jordan-Challenge-esque type historical Slam Dunk Competition type mode... that would be pretty awesome :D

Dunno if I'd consider him a "great", but he was a cool dude. :P

And... yessss. Historic slam dunk moments would be great to recreate. Not sure how they'd do that mechanically, but I'm sure there's a way to make that interesting.

Historic slam dunk moments would be great to recreate. Not sure how they'd do that mechanically, but I'm sure there's a way to make that interesting.

Hell yeah, I love Magic Johnson. Might just buy the game for the cover and not even play it.

@JCTango said:

@JJWeatherman said:

Historic slam dunk moments would be great to recreate. Not sure how they'd do that mechanically, but I'm sure there's a way to make that interesting.

They could have you do the exact same dunks they did - you'd just have to perform various actions shown on the screen or something :). Probably wouldn't be that challenging at all, but hell, it'd be a great way to celebrate the awesomeness.

Jordan's Foul-line Dunk for example... would be almost nothing but button mashing, but still pretty damn sweeeet!

They should all just depend on button mashing. The more buttons you mash, the cleaner you get the dunks off. Awful ideas! But yeah, I'll leave the game design to the professionals.

@Marino said:

I was expecting them to do something similar to the Jordan challenges again but instead of focusing on one guy, make it some of the NBA's greatest games/moments overall. Seems that they took a step towards that with this.

Oh, NBA Live actually did that a few years back. They gave you a player and put you in a situation with a specific goal that was taken from a real world performance. Of course, 2K executed the idea a lot better with the Jordan Challenges, so that could definitely be an exciting thing to see 2K take a stab at.

I'll take the Larry Bird cover.  : )

I really hope its Larry Bird or Magic Johnson for 2nd. MJ was last year. To bad I probably won't get this cause I just don't like the feel of the games anymore..  
 
EDIT: I would buy ANY game that has Reggie Miller on the front cover and so will everyone in the entire state of Indiana. Also shame EA didn't put Miller in NBA Jam..

@spankingaddict said:

I'll take the Larry Bird cover. : )

What if they're sold out? Will your Boston blood allow you to walk out of the store with a Magic cover? :O

They all look like wizards on their respective covers.

I'm gonna go MJ on this one but I love the of 3 different covers got to collect them all!!!

The only thing that I'm thinking 'Good on them' for is the fact the game is identical, and each game doesn't have a pointless trinket that might make someone spend 3x the amount on a game for nothing. Which is good.

That's a really cool idea.

Those look really nice. I guess I'll buy 2K11 when 12 comes out. I'm cheap like that.

Does anybody else find the Larry Bird cover funny? I mean, he totally doesn't belong on a poster of explosions and special effects. He's just not that type of guy.

@CitizenKane said:

Does anybody else find the Larry Bird cover funny? I mean, he totally doesn't belong on a poster of explosions and special effects. He's just not that type of guy.

I guess, now that you mention it. The jersey ripping(?) effects work a bit better with Jordan and Magic since they were known for getting to the rim a bit more and generally being more athletic.

To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the design. I'm almost never a fan of 2K's box designs, but it doesn't really matter what the box looks like at the end of the day.

Makes sense, they hit the biggest bball franchises. Focusing on the "Dream" era might be a smart move given the lockout situation.

Looks really cool. Looking forward to this game.

Kinda surprised they didnt put Rose or Dirk on the cover this year but I cant complain. All those covers look pretty cool, though the Larry Bird one looks the oddest to me.

i've been wondering why this announcement has taken so long, normally they come out with the cover athlete in june. more classic teams/challenges = good thing. there needs to be some shaq love too.
 
i wonder how long the jordan contract runs and at what point they go back to todays players for the cover. i know the sales have been amazing since they've got jordan though.

Fuck yes, Larry Bird!!

@JayDee said:

i've been wondering why this announcement has taken so long, normally they come out with the cover athlete in june. more classic teams/challenges = good thing. there needs to be some shaq love too. i wonder how long the jordan contract runs and at what point they go back to todays players for the cover. i know the sales have been amazing since they've got jordan though.

I think in that ESPN article they say something about getting a three year extension with Jordan. I bet after that's over, they try their hardest to get another deal done. I don't see them ever letting him go.

@JJWeatherman said:

@JayDee said:

i've been wondering why this announcement has taken so long, normally they come out with the cover athlete in june. more classic teams/challenges = good thing. there needs to be some shaq love too. i wonder how long the jordan contract runs and at what point they go back to todays players for the cover. i know the sales have been amazing since they've got jordan though.

I think in that ESPN article they say something about getting a three year extension with Jordan. I bet after that's over, they try their hardest to get another deal done. I don't see them ever letting him go.

Yeah I mean, once you have a contract with Jordan Brand, how do you top that? Or even how do you let that go? You gotta just keep the deal going. I was hoping for a D-Rose cover, but I'll take another Jordan one for sure. Like the Magic and Bird options, but I gotta stick to Jordan. Here's to hoping that extended contract will bring about more endorsement goodies in My Player. You basically see it all in your first year or so, there's no real incentives that are long-term.

@JCTango said:

Jordan's Foul-line Dunk for example... would be almost nothing but button mashing, but still pretty damn sweeeet!

You know if you pull that dunk off in the Jordan Challenge in 2K11 the announcers go crazy and say something like "I can't believe it! He just dunked it in from the free-throw line!" Was a pretty amazing moment when I did it in game and totally unexpected.

Someone just needs to remake Space Jam, because you know, that's what all the kids are into these days. Also yeah that Larry Bird cover is a little goofy, but it means well.

@JJWeatherman: Cannot wait for this game. Are there any more classic squads that they are adding to 2K12?

@Marino said:

I was expecting them to do something similar to the Jordan challenges again but instead of focusing on one guy, make it some of the NBA's greatest games/moments overall. Seems that they took a step towards that with this.

Oh man, that would be incredible!

Is this game coming out for multiple platforms? Or are they going for some weird Pokémon vibe? Actually, a Pokémon basketball game would be kinda cool. Is Nintendo working on a Pokémon basketball game?

Next year: Wayne Gretzky, Babe Ruth, and David Beckham.

@JCTango: Got excited just then when I thought your Button Mashing link was going to direct me to something relating to Gamespot's button mashing  :( 
  
@JJWeatherman:  ... disappointed in your for not making that connection.
  
Guess I'll have to do it.
  

I've always been an NBA Live guy, so this is gonna be my first 2K sports game. This looks freaking awesome.