EA announces that Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete of NBA LIVE 08, they also sent along the next box art for the Xbox 360 version and two screenshots of Gilbert for you to check out.

Electronic Arts announced today that Washington Wizards All-Star Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete and spokesman of EA SPORTS NBA LIVE 08. This season Arenas displayed tremendous determination to emerge as one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players, rising to No. 3 in league scoring and leading the Wizards into the playoffs for the second straight season. NBA LIVE 08 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver, BC, and will ship to stores worldwide this fall.

“This is a dream come true,” said Arenas. “I’m a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame.”

Arenas finished the 2006-07 regular season averaging 28.4 points and 6.0 assists per game. Arenas was the first player from the 2001 draft class to be named to the All-Star team in 2005 and now has three consecutive All-Star appearances. In the ultimate salute to his climb from relative unknown to NBA All-Star, fans voted Arenas a starter on the Eastern Team at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

Fueled by a combination of talent and a larger-than-life personality, Arenas has risen from below the radar into the spotlight. His breakout 2007 season included authoring a blog on NBA.com that established a direct relationship with his fans, and a well-known catch phrase (Hibachi!). Dubbed “Agent Zero” in reference to his jersey number, Arenas chose zero as a reminder of his underdog mentality that drives him to succeed. Off the court, Arenas is devoted to many charitable organizations including Scores for Schools, the NBA Cares program, and created the Zer0 2 Hero Foundation to promote the well-being of children.

The EA SPORTS NBA LIVE franchise was the #1 selling basketball game in 2006*. The game is not yet rated by PEGI or the ESRB; visit www.esrb.org for updated rating information. For more information, log onto www.nbalive.com.