Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveal just rubbed salt in the wound of Celtics

Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had an incredible couple of months. He led OKC to capture its first-ever NBA title, signed the largest contract extension in league history, and then was named the cover athlete for NBA 2K26 on Tuesday.

Yet, no one is talking about him in relation to the 2K cover. Instead, the Boston Celtics are dominating the conversation.

SGA’s cover art features the same bland, blurred-out background that Jayson Tatum’s did last year. The difference, however, is that he is not alone in the design. Gilgeous-Alexander is surrounded by “four” “defenders,” who are all very clearly Celtics players. Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, and two Al Horfords will also make their NBA2K cover debuts when the game hits the market later this year.

It’s pretty devastating that Kornet had his introductory media availability with the San Antonio Spurs before the cover was announced because he would’ve certainly had a hilarious reaction to being a part of it as a background extra.

The design is, frankly, ridiculous. One of the Horfords is the only defender who is paying attention to Shai, who appears to be driving to the basket in the image. The other three are either not playing defense, defending the wrong side of the floor, or simply not even paying attention to the play.

Are they trying to take a passive-aggressive shot at the lack of defense needed to keep SGA off the free-throw line?

Putting Luke Kornet and Al Horford on the 2K cover NOW feels a little mean, don't you think?

Also, would it be too much to ask for 2K to read the room a little bit?

Kornet just left town to join the Spurs, and it sounds like Horford is in line to board the next plane to San Francisco as he’s been heavily linked to the Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics community was all over this, too. Several accounts on Twitter/X did a deep dive to find the source photos for the respective silhouettes of Kornet, Horford, and Hauser, which all came from the March 8 matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.

If none of these photos were against the Thunder, why did the 2K design team go out of their way to put Boston players on the cover? Did they just want to rub salt in the wounds of mourning Celtics fans, who have spent the last two months bracing for the deconstruction of the 2024 NBA Championship core?

Losing several beloved players in a short span is tough enough. Never mind having to be reminded of what is no longer, every time they load up 2K to use the Celtics and beat the computer by 100 points to cope.