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Caitlin Clark was announced as the cover athlete for the NBA 2K27 Deluxe Edition
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has been revealed as the NBA 2K27 Deluxe Edition Cover Athlete. Like most things involving Caitlin Clark these days, though, that announcement has come with a bit of controversy, as the developers of the game are being accused of using AI for the cover art.
With her appearance on the NBA 2K27 Deluxe Edition cover, Caitlin Clark has made history as the first WNBA player to be the sole cover athlete on her own global edition of the game.
Previous WNBA players — including Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, and A’ja Wilson, who was the first WNBA player to appear on a global edition but shared that cover with Jayson Tatum — appeared on dedicated WNBA editions, retailer-specific covers, or shared covers. Clark is the first to stand alone on her own global edition.
“Being on the cover of NBA 2K27 is special because this game reaches fans all over the world,” Clark said in a statement. “To be the first WNBA player on her own global cover means women’s basketball gets to show up on that stage too, and I am proud to be part of that.”
Caitlin Clark’s historic moment as 2K cover athlete overshadowed by accusations of AI being used to create the cover art
Clark’s historic moment, however, has been a bit upstaged by the cover art itself, with fans on social media accusing the developers of using AI instead of an actual photo of Clark.
What type of AI is this? That is not Caitlin Clark 😭 pic.twitter.com/mvFnBER2qb
— . (@DTBxss) July 22, 2026
Am I tripping or did 2K use AI for this cover? https://t.co/Nu2pbTYfRX
— BearsShowYo (@BearsShowYo) July 22, 2026
“Billion dollar company using AI to make their covers 😭,” one of the top replies to 2K’s announcement tweet red.
“You guys can’t even pay her for a nice picture… 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️ the whole world knows this is AI 🤦🏽♂️,” a second addded.
“This looks like if you drew Caitlin Clark from memory. Legit didn’t know who this was until I read the caption,” a third summarized.
“Is this AI? Doesn’t even look like Clark” … “That is NOT Caitlin Clark” … “Did you lazy bums really use AI for your COVER??” … “Yo that is NOT Caitlin Clark bro wtf” … “That AI generated cover looks crazy,” others added.
who is this? because it’s not caitlin clark https://t.co/35P8z1323e
— sad dallas wings fan (@liaa25__) July 22, 2026
this is NOT Caitlin Clark 😭😭😭 https://t.co/z6eH6mi79q pic.twitter.com/f16hJykcFW
— csb (@itsCSB__) July 22, 2026
NBA 2K27 will be released worldwide on Friday, September 4, 2026, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. You can check out the official trailer for the game below.