NBA 2K15's cover star is newly crowned MVP Kevin Durant

Named the NBA's most valuable player this morning, Kevin Durant is taking home another honor this evening: star of NBA 2K15's cover when the acclaimed basketball series returns in October.

NBA 2K15 will launch Oct. 7 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

It is the fourth appearance on the cover of a console sports video game for Durant, who ran away with the voting this year to earn his first league MVP. Durant's prior cover history includes sharing NBA 2K13's cover with Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers; appearing on the box shot of NCAA March Madness 08 in his college uniform; and also on the cover of the notorious, unreleased NBA Elite 11.

Durant, in a conference call announcing the cover, was asked what 2K Sports had offered to bring him back to their video game's box shot. "They didn't say anything," he said. "I begged them to put me on the cover because I really think nobody plays the game as much as I do. I really wanted to be a part of it, and I know I had to perform on the court to be in the running for it."

Durant said he favors the MyPlayer career mode, even as he plays out his own career in real life. "I feel it's an escape even though it's still basketball," he said. "I enjoy taking your guy through the season, getting drafted, sitting the bench, becoming a starter and then just trying to get better. I feel that's how it is [in reality]. It's about a journey and that's what I'm on, which is a journey."