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The WNBA coming to NBA2K20, A’ja Wilson and Renee Montgomery say

By Carly Grenfell

CHARLOTTE NC - FEBRUARY 14: A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces poses for portraits during the NBAE Circuit as part of 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 14, 2019 at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE NC - FEBRUARY 14: A'ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces poses for portraits during the NBAE Circuit as part of 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 14, 2019 at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Michael J. LeBrecht II/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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As if A’ja Wilson wasn’t already enough of a human cheat code.

Well, get excited, because it looks like the WNBA is coming to NBA 2K20. Although no ‘official’ announcement, Wilson and Atlanta Dream’s Renee Montgomery both posted to Twitter from an NBA 2K scanning booth. This follows the WNBA making an appearance in NBA Live 18, which launched in the fall of 2017 on Xbox One and PlayStation®4.

In NBA Live 18, all the players of all 12 WNBA teams are available from the game’s WNBA Play Now menu. In other words, they are not available in any of the game’s career modes—just for one-off play offline or online. They also cannot play against NBA teams. It will be interesting to see how the inclusion of the WNBA in NBA 2K plays out exactly.

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In an interview with Polygon when NBA Live 18 was released, senior producer Mike Mahar teased that this was likely just the start of a great partnership and other opportunities for the WNBA.

"“It’s a great partnership and it expands the options available in the product, and it’s the stepping stone to, probably, some cool implementations with female characters going forward in the game,” he said. Future iterations on how they will appear in the product, that will be added later.”"

It looks like we are seeing some of those expansions now and will continue to down the road.

This level of inclusion isn’t consistently woven throughout pop culture quite yet, but even back in 2015, FIFA added stars of the Women’s National Team to its franchise. This was the first time in FIFA history you could choose to play as a female soccer player. Their role has only grown since—returning to the video game lineup in 2016 and 2017.

This visibility matters for women’s basketball and women’s sports as a whole.

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