While in the past two years 2K Sports has been emblazoning their NBA 2K covers with stars from the sports' past, this year they are including three current stars that are at the height of their game. For NBA 2K13, 2K Sports has chosen the Clippers' Blake Griffin, the Bulls' Derrick Rose, and the Thunder's Kevin Durant as the cover athlete trio.

Rather than give each console version their own cover athlete, like what was done with NBA 2K12, 2K has decided that all three players will share cover athlete duties across all platforms.

Just this last month or so all three participated in the playoff phase of the shortened 2012 NBA season (Rose for an even shorter portion of it), further emphasizing their status as deserved cover athletes. Some might ask why LeBron James, this year's MVP and Finals Champion, didn't get a shot, but the polarizing nature of his exploits was surely a factor in 2K's decision. Rose, Durant, and Griffin, while still beholden to their fan bases, are much more palatable superstars.

This is the first appearance for each of the superstars on a NBA 2K cover (last year's cover featured NBA Hall of Famers in promotion of that iteration's NBA's Greatest Mode) although Kevin Durant has some history with game covers. For those that remember, Durant was initially pegged as the cover athlete for EA Sports' NBA Elite '11 before that title was scrapped mere weeks before its release.

It was thought that EA Sports might take some time to fine tune the product but they inevitably ditched the reboot altogether, and are apparently trying to find a new way to recapture the basketball fan base.

NBA 2K13, however, should be another banner entry in the extremely popular franchise, and with three All-Stars on the cover the game should have no trouble finding its fan base. No details thus far on new improvements to the game mechanics, or what new mode will rival last year's NBA's Greatest, but players should expect some announcements regarding those soon.

Which of the three athletes are you most excited to see finally get a cover athlete role? Any athletes you feel were more deserved of the cover (besides LeBron James)?

NBA 2K13 releases October 3, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Wii.

Source: Yahoo