Can LeBron James Revive the Sports Game Soundtrack?

UPDATE: The NBA 2K14 Soundtrack has been released. Click here to check it out. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

LeBron James will do more for NBA 2K14 than simply grace its cover. The two-time NBA Champion will also be the first cover athlete to select the game’s soundtrack.

According to a report by the Associated Press, James already has some songs picked out.

"Some of the songs featured on the game’s soundtrack are Drake’s “Started From The Bottom,” Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us,” with Ray Dalton. Other music acts featured are Jay-Z, Coldplay, Robin Thicke, The Black Keys, Eminem, Fly Union, Gorillaz, Imagine Dragons, Jada Kiss, John Legend, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Nas and Puff Daddy.”"

It comes as no surprise that James would feature a song or two by his friends Jay Z (formerly known as “Jay-Z”) and Drake.

It’s also a smart choice to anchor his playlist with some current hits from Daft Punk, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Robin Thicke and Imagine Dragons.

But some choices come as a surprise. First of which being Coldplay (what Coldplay song would you want to play Association Mode to? “Paradise” has a good bass drop but…) and Rick Ross who, while from Miami, hasn’t done anything worth while since his forgettable intro verse on Kanye’s “Monster.”

Speaking of Kanye — yes Yeezus will on the playlist too. The song will likely be from the “single-less” new drop from Mr. West. (LeBron would get some major points if he drop-stepped past “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” and went right for “Bound 2”)

Will we get a dose of old and new from James? Looks like it. We are promised to receive two can’t-miss classics with “In the Air Tonight” and any Gorillaz song he picks (“Feel Good Inc.”?). But it would have been nice to see him get creative by using a recent cover of the Phil Collins money cow.

Meanwhile the only hot M.C. he’s including right now is Kendrick Lamar. Will we get some Odd Future? Joey Bad? A$AP Rocky?

Feb 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James (left) of the Miami Heat greets recording artist Jay-Z at halftime of the 2013 NBA all star game at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

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The art of compiling a sports video game soundtrack is a lost one. The once-so-important platform for up-and-coming artists has become nothing but “Now That’s What I Call Music! Five-Friggin-Thousand.”

It seems like there hasn’t been a decent sound track to a sports game since the original “NFL Street,” and Madden couldn’t get it right after a terrific 2005 playlist.

Don’t even get me started on Madden, who started copping out by putting Sam Spence’s “NFL Films” music on the playlist in 2006. Really, EA? Why don’t you just record Cris Collinsworth/Matthew McConaughey talk to me about pancakes or this or just loop Ron Jaworski talking about Chad Henne?

July 23, 2012; Barcelona, SPAIN; USA forward LeBron James (6) adjusts his music player after practice in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games at Palau Sant Jordi. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Madden reached rock bottom with a 2011 soundtrack that featured AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses and… *shudder*… “Rock and Roll All Night” (NOT TO MENTION “LET IT ROCK” WHICH WAS RELEASED IN 2008 I MEAN TWO THOUSAND EIGHT!!!!) but did make a relative comeback with a 2012 track that included more up-and-coming artists and less, well, KISS.

The problem is that video game developers, who are not known for their taste in music, were the ones selecting the sound track.

“EA Trax” was a good idea, but it seemed like it was being ignored often times in fear of not having any anchor songs. Unlike EA Sports, 2k Sports didn’t have Trax and, after a weird and inconsistent and slightly annoying 2K12 tracklist that involved a social competition, turned to Jay Z to “produce” 2K13. What happened? Exactly what everyone knew would happen, the setlist turned to a massive advertisement for Jay Z (because everyone on the planet, let alone playing the game, doesn’t already know who he is).

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Maybe this move by 2K Sports will resurrect the sports game track list. After all, athletes and the music biz have been joined at the hip for years. Why not have the cover athletes, who are more up on music than this guy, pick the music? Well, James will on 2K14.

Can James resurrect the long-abused privilege of choosing a game sound track?

I wouldn’t put it past him.

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What songs do you want to see on NBA 2K14?