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NBA 2K23 trailer delivers hidden nuggets: Stephen Curry and Ja Morant viral celebrations, Devin Booker honors Kobe Bryant, reheated Lakers-Suns beef

Kyle Irving

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NBA 2K23 trailer delivers hidden nuggets: Stephen Curry and Ja Morant viral celebrations, Devin Booker honors Kobe Bryant, reheated Lakers-Suns beef image

Rejoice, gaming hoops fans — the release of NBA 2K23 is almost here.

We're one step closer to 2K Day after the first-look trailer of NBA 2K23 was released on Friday.

NBA 2K23 will come out on Friday, Sept. 9, but the game is already available for pre-order on all systems.

We found out at the beginning of July that Michael Jordan will grace the cover of the "Championship Edition," while Suns All-Star Devin Booker will be on the cover of the "Standard Edition" and Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird will tag-team the cover of the "WNBA Edition."

As you watch the trailer in excitement to check out the new graphics, here are 10 nuggets you may have missed the first time around, ordered chronologically.

MORE: NBA 2K23: Release date, editions guide, pricing and more

NBA 2K23 trailer: 10 nuggets to look for

The Jabbawockeez replace the random kid dancers

2K junkies know what I mean with this one.

You're at a timeout and already made your lineup adjustments, waiting for your opponent to resume play. As you wait, you were forced to watch... kid dancers perform at center court?

It was always such a strange feature in 2K, but it seems to be gone in the latest edition as the Jabbawockeez appear to have taken their place. That's a W.

Ja Morant dunks all over Draymond Green... but Green gets revenge

After Klay Thompson called out Jaren Jackson Jr. and the Grizzlies in his post-NBA Finals championship press conference, Morant and Green traded blows on Twitter. This only added to the rivalry between the Warriors and Grizzlies heading into next season, with Morant and Green even vouching for a Christmas Day matchup.

The 2K23 trailer brings the rivalry to the game, with Morant dunking all over Green. Green does get revenge later in the trailer, though, pinning Morant's layup attempt off the glass.

Danny Green is on the Grizzlies?

During the highlight of Morant dunking on Green, the camera pans to the Grizzlies' bench where Danny Green – who looks absurdly realistic, by the way – is flexing for his teammate.

I'm sure that served as a reminder to many — myself included — that Green was traded (along with the No. 23 pick, which turned into David Roddy) to the Grizzlies on draft night in a deal that sent De'Anthony Melton to the 76ers.

Stephen Curry's "night-night" celebration

2K has always done a fantastic job of incorporating the latest trending celebrations into the game, ranging from LeBron James' "Silencer" to Damian Lillard's "Dame Time" and D'Angelo Russell's "Hotline Bling."

As we see in the trailer, the latest celebration in the game is, of course, Curry's "night-night," which has taken the sports world by storm since the NBA Playoffs.

LeBron James' "I'm insane" celebration

On the heels of that, we also see LeBron hit the "I'm insane" celebration that we just saw him tweet about after Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith pulled it off following a nasty ankle-breaker in the W a few days ago.

That's either extremely coincidental, very timely, or both from the 2K team.

Ja Morant hits The Griddy

"The Griddy" celebration took over the sports world in 2021 and 2022, so it had to be in the latest edition of NBA 2K. We see Morant hit this at center court in the trailer, just as he did after the Grizzlies eliminated the Timberwolves from the playoffs last season.

Luka Doncic's patented stepback

As you can already tell from the first seven "nuggets" in the trailer, 2K always does a great job of hiding these little gems for NBA fans to point out.

There was another realistic one in there, as Doncic gets to his patented left wing stepback for a game-winner, just as we've seen him do plenty of times in real NBA games.

It's a subtle nod to the true NBA fans who play the game.

"Be Legendary" on Devin Booker's Kobes

Everyone knows Booker's motto is "Be Legendary," which was the note that his idol, Kobe Bryant, wrote on his jersey after their first game against each other.

Booker has that motto tattooed on his wrist, uses the hashtag "#BeLegendary" on almost every social media post and writes it on his shoes for every game.

It's only right that 2K printed the phrase on the cover star's kicks.

Devin Booker's game-winner over Anthony Davis reheats Suns-Lakers beef

The trailer ends with Booker burying a game-winner over Anthony Davis, which is no coincidence.

In his first-ever playoff series in 2021, Booker went for 47 points and 11 rebounds to eliminate Davis, LeBron and the Lakers in the first round. The next season, Davis claimed the Suns "got away with one" because of his injury that limited him in the series.

Booker clapped back with this gem of a quote: "If ifs were a fifth, we'd all be drunk."

He got some virtual revenge on Davis, as the latest 2K cover star buries a game-winner over a former 2K cover star.

Where's the reigning MVP?!

The Nikola Jokic disrespect continues. NBA 2K couldn't get the back-to-back MVP a single highlight in the game? Now that's just wrong.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.