Trail Blazers star Lillard one of three NBA 2K21 cover athletes

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has been one of the top point guards of his generation, and his success has earned him a spot in one of the NBA's most historic lineages. 

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Lillard will be on the cover of NBA 2K21. NBA 2K tweeted Tuesday that Lillard will be the cover athlete for current generation consoles. The next generation and Legends cover athletes will be released this week, per ESPN's Arda Ocal.

NBA 2K21 is available to pre-order July 2, and it will be released in October, per Ocal. 

Here is Lillard's statement about being on the cover, per ESPN:

"This is a special moment for me in my NBA career," Lillard said in a statement. "I've been a fan of NBA 2K for years and love how they represent all aspects of basketball culture. I'm an avid 2K player, so I'm honored to join the other NBA greats who have been on the cover. I'm grateful to all my fans and can't wait for everyone to experience the game later this year."

With Lillard being on the cover of 2K21, he joins fellow greats in gracing the front of the world's most popular basketball video game. 

LeBron James (2K14, 2K19), Giannis Antetokounmpo (2K19), Kevin Durant (2K13, 2K15) and Anthony Davis (2K16, 2K20) among others have been cover athletes. 

Lillard has continued to build with each season, and the 2019-20 campaign has been his best to date. He's scored a career-high 28.9 points per game, dished a career-high 7.8 assists a game and shot 39.4% from the 3-point line. 

He and the Trail Blazers will work to earn the eighth seed during the season's resumption in Orlando. 

The season resumes July 30, and Portland is currently ranked ninth in the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers' first seeding game will be July 31 against the Memphis Grizzlies.