Derrick Rose is getting a rare kind of spotlight from NBA 2K27, and for Bulls fans, it lands with real meaning. The game unveiled its cover athletes on Wednesday afternoon, and while Victor Wembanyama headlines the standard edition, Rose will front the Ultra Edition as the lone featured name.
That makes this a first for Rose. He was on the NBA 2K13 cover before, but he shared that space with Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin.
This time, he stands by himself, which gives the honor a different kind of weight. It also puts him in a small club tied to the Bulls, since Michael Jordan is the only other Chicago player to have his own solo NBA 2K cover.
The announcement comes a few months after Rose saw his jersey raised into the United Center rafters. He became only the fifth Bulls player in franchise history to receive that recognition. Now he’s being celebrated again, this time by a franchise that has long treated him as one of the game’s defining names.
Rose’s own reaction matched the moment.
“It’s crazy looking back at being on the NBA 2K13 cover to now having my own edition for NBA 2K27. During my journey there have been coaches who believed in me, teammates who made me better, and fans who showed up louder than I ever expected.
So this is a chance to inspire young athletes to stay obsessed with the game. To show them that when you put in the countless hours of hard work, it rewards you," Rose said in a statement.
NBA 2K27 said the cover selections were made because of the ways these players changed the game. In Rose’s case, the game pointed to the way he redefined the point guard spot with a blend of explosiveness and physicality.
The other special-edition covers will feature Caitlin Clark on the Deluxe Edition and Rose on the Ultra Edition. Wembanyama, fresh off his first trip to the NBA Finals and his first All-NBA First Team selection, will be the face of the main release.
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