Who Is On The NBA Live 2009 Cover?

We will find out later on the 25th of June who is on the cover of Live 09, but I figure we can make a good guess of it.  The basic rule is that it will not be anyone who was on a cover the past 2 seasons of any game and not anyone who has ever been on the cover of Live,  meaning Chris Paul, Shaq, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, Antoine Walker, Tim Duncan, KG, Stevie Francis, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Tracy McGrady, and Gilbert Arenas are out.  Check here and EA Sports websites on

Wednesday to see who is on the cover.

1. LeBron James – King James had a huge 2007 and next season he looks to improve.  Or have his team-mates improve, which would help much more.  Not a more marketable guy in the league, from 1998-2008 his jersey is the 4th best selling, amazing when you consider he came into the league in 2003.  ODDS 2-1

2. Kevin Durant – The Rookie of the Year in 2007 looks to become not only the face of a franchise, but the face of a city as the ownership of the Sonics are trying to move the team to Oklahoma City.  Remember the stories of him not being able to bench press anything before the draft and how weak he would be?  He’s a stronger guy then most folks thought.  As an Oklahoma City native, I really hope the Sonics get there as soon as possible.  ODDS 3-1

3. Paul Pierce – The NBA Finals MVP went and run amok against the league in this post season.  He was not the same player we saw last season, or maybe ever.  He outplayed Kobe Bryant when it mattered most and brought the NBA Championship back to Boston for the 17th time in history.  Odds are lowered though, since the agents and people that do these deals probably already had signed off on who was on the cover before the Finals actually happened.  But, if not, then Pierce has a great chance as he became, almost overnight, a household name.  ODDS 7-2

4. Tony Parker – Little known fact, Tony has been on the cover of the French version of the game for the past 4 years.  Why not make the logical leap to the US Cover?  EA Sports might be thinking ahead with this choice, as the Spurs tend to win championships in seasons where the year is an odd number.  Parker is also quite young, only 26, and already has 3 NBA Championships and one Finals MVP under his belt.  Some might think this is a dark-horse pick but I’m thinking this will be the start of a series of wins for the Spurs this season.  ODDS 4-1 and my pick.

The “it will not happen” pick: Michael Jordan – If a retired Brett Favre can be on the cover of Madden 09 then Jordan can be on the cover of Live.  It’s a very small chance, but I will not be suprized when the year comes where he is on the cover of one of the NBA games.

Check here and EA Sports websites on Wednesday to see who is on the cover.