NBA 2K21 is a basketball simulation video game that was developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports, based on the National Basketball Association (NBA). It is the 22nd installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K20. The game was released on September 4, 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, and will later be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S.
A teaser was released on June 11, 2020 during the PS5 Reveal Event and featured the player model of New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson. It showed a few seconds of pre-alpha, in-engine footage and showed many effects such as ray-tracing and shadow details. On June 30, 2020, NBA 2K announced Damian Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, would be the cover for the standard edition on the current-generation consoles. On July 1, 2020, NBA 2K announced Zion Williamson as the cover athlete for the standard edition on the next-generation consoles. The last covers were released on July 2, 2020, honoring the late Kobe Bryant. There will be a #8 cover for current gen consoles — which features artwork of him dunking with the afro and a #24 cover for next gen consoles — which features artwork of him waving after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game in 2016; both numbers were worn by Bryant throughout his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. The demo for the game was released on August 24th