LeBron James wasn’t available, so EA Sports went with the next best thing — or at least, his heir apparent — to appear on the cover of its first “NBA Live” video game in years.
The company announced Thursday that Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving will grace the cover of “NBA Live 14,” which is slated for release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this October. The game will be the first one in the series in four years since the release of “NBA Live 10” in 2009.
EA has certainly lost a lot of ground in those four years. The “NBA 2K” series has dominated the NBA gaming department, punctuated by tabbing James as its cover athlete for this year’s installment. But EA will hope it can capture some of that momentum back and make fans forget about the other series, just like Irving has done for the Cavs since James left them in 2010. The Cleveland point guard, selected first overall in the 2011 NBA draft, was named Rookie of the Year in 2012 and an All-Star this past season.
Check out EA’s accompanying video to its “NBA Live 14” cover announcement below.
