Kalshi had it right: Victor Wembanyama confirmed as NBA 2K27 cover star
Victor Wembanyama is the latest NBA superstar to grace the cover of a video game, with the San Antonio Spurs star landing on NBA 2K27. This comes as little surprise, as Wembanyama cemented himself as one of the sport’s best players last season. He really came on in the playoffs, carrying the Spurs from a lottery team to the NBA Finals.
It also shouldn’t be that surprising because for months, Kalshi had Wembanyama as the top option to be the cover athlete for NBA 2K27. In this case, the
video game prediction markets
had it right, and those who made that prediction can now reap the benefits.
Victor Wembanyama lands on cover of NBA 2K27
Image credit: Kalshi
Victor Wembanyama may not be the reigning MVP, and he may not have titles or the long reign of someone like Nikola Jokic, but he is arguably now the face of the NBA. As such, it is incredibly fitting that he’s now also the cover athlete for NBA 2K27. It would be hard to find a more deserving candidate.
Kalshi
had this pretty much the whole way. In October, when the 2025-26 season was barely underway, Wembanyama had a 21.3% chance to be the cover athlete, succeeding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who graced the 2K26 cover.
From there, Wembanyama’s rise in the actual NBA was mirrored by his rise in prediction market percentage to be the next cover athlete. In late January, he sat at 57% on Kalshi. On May 18, he was at 90.3%.
Lone dip
The only time it ever dipped was on June 21. That was eight days after the Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. Wembanyama had a down series, and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson cemented himself as one of the best Knicks players ever, ending a 53-year drought.
Unsurprisingly, Wembanyama’s percent tanked, while Brunson’s rose. Wembanyama was still at 42.2%, but Brunson wasn’t far behind at 21.7%. That was as close as it got, though. From there, the Spurs center spiked upwards and kept trending up until it was announced on July 22 that he would be the cover star.
Josh Hart, Stephen Curry, Mikal Bridges, Caitlin Clark, Devin Booker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, and a handful of others had markets, but they never really contested with either Brunson or Wembanyama.
Ultimately, Kalshi had this one pegged the entire way, unlike the Madden 27 cover athlete. That ended up being Caleb Williams, but Drake Maye and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
took turns rotating to the top
with Williams
on the markets.
Feature image credit: Brad Penner (Imagn Images)
Zachary Roberts
About Zachary Roberts
Zachary Roberts is an avid gamer and writer that loves to merge those things. He’s been featured on VideoGamer, ComicBook, New Leaf, Esports.net, and Sportskeeda as well as the On SI network of Sports Illustrated and Sporting News.
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