Countless NBA players have experienced this feeling. However, not just one WNBA player had until recently. When NBA 2K20 was released in 2019, it had been the first time the annual match -- that thrived in NBA 2K21 MT 1999 -- showcased WNBA players. Her predecessors did not get the opportunity to play as themselves, but Washington Mystics wing Aerial Powers could not help but make a comparison when she first played as herself. "This is probably how the men feel when they get into the league and they get an opportunity to play themselves 2K," she explained. "It's just surreal and can be pretty enjoyable."

"I would have never thought they'd apply girls to the game," Powers told USA TODAY Sports. "Even though I feel like we should be in there." Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray has been enjoying 2K because Shaquille O'Neal graced the cover in 2005, and she still has difficulty believing that she is a part of it. Alexis Jones, who had been waived by the Atlanta Dream in August, has always enjoyed making her own participant on 2K and will mold his game after her very own. This will be the first year she won't have to create herself at the picture of a man.

"This has been my dream come true, '' I really don't know about everybody else," Jones stated. "I know that's one thing I always dreamed of as a little woman -- to maintain a 2K game. This chance to make yourself and construct yourself as well as a woman is dope." The significance of building your own WNBA player can't be overstated, particularly for young women who wish to play basketball or are simply fans of the sport. "I think it's astonishing that little girls can develop and actually play the game and understand that they can still have the same goals and accomplishments as men," Jones said. Powers echoed the opinion and how significant representation is for young ladies. She also wants to see more progression with girls in the video game industry generally.

Powers streams and plays video games on Twitch and is now particularly active in gaming since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She even hosted an all-female 2K championship in October that contained a 30-minute opening musical group by Grammy Award Winning artist DJ Jazzy Jeff. The flow garnered over 26,000 viewers. The 2019 WNBA winner says when she plays video games online she is sometimes met with misogynistic messages from different consumers, and she expects that new modes such as"The W" will make it much easier for women playing video games. "It sort of gives the younger women a good appearance and says,'Hey, it is alright to Buy MT NBA 2K21 be a female, such as basketball and wish to play,' since I understand some of their male friends may have a different view," Powers explained. "But when you Find the women in the game, it is like,'Hey, that is all right.'"