Candace Parker has been chosen to NBA2king grace the cover of NBA2K22, becoming the first female basketball player to be awarded this honor. The Los Angeles Sparks mentor Lisa Leslie was the one who first opened the doors for women play basketball in video games. Before PlayStation 5, 4 and 3, in the days when NBA2K2 was being released, Leslie appeared in Humungous Entertainment's Backyard Basketball (2001).

In the same way, it was the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett who graced the cover of Original Backyard Basketball, Leslie was part of the game, and you could play as her or Garnett.

Sheryl Swoopes as well as Cynthia Cooper, Houston Comets superstars, were absent from the 2001 WNBA season. Cooper was a two-time MVP, and four-time champion was forced to quit following the 2000 season. He returned in 2003.

Swoopes, who was also a part of those four championships and was the league's MVP for the year, was not able to play in 2001 due to a ruptured ACL. After helping the Sparks win their first title in September of 2001, Leslie won not only the MVP award in 2001, but she also was named the Finals MVP.

Then, just one month later Backyard Basketball was released with Buy 2K MT Xbox her being the sole real-life female basketball player (Garnett was the sole male player) instead of Cooper and Swoopes.