Bear with me for this mother of all long posts.
I think it's Marbury not just because it looks like him (as many posters before me have pointed out) but, consider the following:
Keep in mind that the game for a certain year is made based on the previous season.
Live 97, cover: Mitch Richmond.
Richmond ranked eighth in the NBA in scoring with a team-high 23.1 ppg, second only to Michael Jordan among guards ...He shot .447 from the field, a career-high .437 from three-point range (ninth in the NBA) and a team-high .866 from the free throw line (seventh in the NBA) ...He led the team three-pointers with 225 and steals with 1.54 spg... Richmond started all 81 games in which he played and scored in double figures in 78 of them, getting 20 points or more 53 times and 30 points or more 19 times ...He led the team in scoring 53 times and tied his career-high with 47 points, including a franchise-record 25 in the fourth quarter, on Dec. 15 against Houston ...He was an NBA All-Star for the fourth year in a row and Sacramento's leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 21.0 ppg in four games against Seattle ...He was a member of the U.S. Dream Team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Live 98, cover: Tim Hardaway.
Hardaway's first full season with Miami was a brilliant one and earned him a spot on the All-NBA First Team. He led the Heat with 20.3 points (17th in the NBA), 8.6 assists (seventh) and 1.86 steals (15th) in 38.7 minutes (19th). His 203 three-pointers also topped Miami and were the fourth-most in the league. Hardaway started 81 games for Miami and led the team in assists (or tied for the lead) in 77 of those games. He reached double figures 27 times, posting a season-high 16 assists in a 108-99 victory at Detroit on March 4. He scored in double figures 74 times and had 25 double-doubles. He tallied a career-high 45 points, shooting 13-for-25 from the field, 6-for-12 from three-point range and 13-for-14 from the foul line, in a 108-105 victory at Washington on March 7. In the playoffs, Hardaway topped Miami with 18.7 points, 7.0 assists and 1.59 steals in 41.2 minutes. He scored a playoff career-high 38 points, including 18 points in the third quarter, and added 7 assists and 5 steals in a 101-90 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. (what an exciting series that was, I might add)
Live 99, cover: Antoine Walker.
As an exciting 2nd-year player, Walker made his first all-star appearance after averaging 22.4ppg, 10.2rpg, 3.3apg, and 1.7spg. He also scored his career-high 49 points and recorded several triple doubles this season. He was quickly becoming a superstar and signified a bright future for the Celtics.
Live 2000, cover: Tim Duncan.
This was an obvious choice for EA with Duncan being named Finals MVP for the champions Spurs.
Named to both the All-NBA First Team and the All-Defensive First Team ... appeared in all 50 games, averaging 21.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.52 blocks in 39.3 minutes per contest ... shot .495 from the field... the only player in the NBA to rank among the top 10 in scoring (7th), rebounding (5th), blocks (7th) and FG percentage (10th) ... finished third in MVP voting ... led the NBA in double-doubles for the second straight season with 37 ... scored in double-figures 48 times, with 20 or more 31 times ... scored over 30 five times.
Live 2001, cover: Kevin Garnett.
Became only the ninth player in league history to average at least 20 ppg, 10 rpg and 5 apg in a season...Posted career highs in scoring (22.9), rebounding (a club-record 11.8) and assists (5.0)...Led the Wolves in scoring 52 times, in rebounding 66 times, and in assists on 13 occasions...Recorded a club-record 57 point/rebound double-doubles on the year, ranking 3rd in the NBA in that category... Set franchise records for rebounds in a game (23), half (19, 1st) and quarter (12, 1st) in the 12/27/99 win at Orlando; he had 20+ boards four times overall ... Became just the fifth player in franchise history to score 40+ with his 40-point effort on 3/22/00 at Boston, part of a club-record string of four consecutive 30-point outings... Named the NBA's Player of the Week three times (March 20-26, Dec. 20-26, Nov. 8-14), and also earned Player of the Month honors for January.
Live 2002, cover: Steve Francis.
Averaged career highs of 19.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 80 games (79 starts) ... also ranked 15th in the NBA with 6.5 assists per game and ninth with a career-high 1.76 steals per game ... became the first player in franchise history to lead the Rockets in points, rebounds and assists, becoming the 18th player in NBA history to hold this distinction on his team...overall, led the Rockets in 15 statistical categories ... became the first Rockets player in history and the only NBA player this year to reach 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a season ... led all NBA guards in rebounding ... named All-NBA First Team by Basketball Digest...reached 20 points a team-high 45 times and 30 points six times...had a team-leading 24 double-doubles... reached double figures in points 74 times, rebounds 15 times and assists 11 times...led Houston in points 37 times, rebounds 23 times and assists 61 times...missed games on Dec. 19 and 23 with a right ankle sprain ... named the NBA Player of the Week on Jan. 16 to join Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone as the only players to receive this honor multiple times with the Rockets.
Live 2003, cover: Jason Kidd.
I think everyone should know the story on this one. On his first year as a New Jersey Net, he led his formerly 20-30 wins team to a 52-30 record (1st in the east) and a trip to the NBA Finals.
Now consider the possibilities for Live 2004...
cover: Vince Carter.
Missed a career-high 39 games due to three seperate stints on the injured list...Posted career lows in games, minutes, field goals, field goal attempts, free throws, free throw attempts, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and points...
or...
cover: Stephon Marbury.
Was only player in the NBA ranked in top 12 in points (12th, 22.3) and assists (4th, 8.1)... With his 22.3 points average he is the first Suns player with back-to-back 20-point seasons since Charles Barkley (23.2 in 1995-96, 23.0 in 1994-95)... Was 3rd in the NBA for percentage of team's offense with his points and assists accounting for 40.3% of Phoenix's points... Tallied 10 or more points in the fourth quarter 17 times this season, third-most in the NBA... Played in 81 games... Named Western Conference Player of the Week twice during the season (Jan. 13 and Dec. 1) for his third as a Sun and fifth in career... Scored 30-plus points 19 times this season and 40-plus points 5 times (10 in career)... Scored 20-plus points 47 times, including 36 of last 49 games... Recorded 23 double-doubles with 13 games of 20 points, 10 assists and 4 games with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists... Paced squad in scoring 40 times and had team high in assists 71 times...
And also the fact he, just like Jason Kidd, led a lottery-bound team to the playoffs (in the tough West) and exhibited some playoffs heroics against the 1st seed Spurs.
Taking these things in consideration, I think Vince Carter pales considerably in comparison with Starbury. But it's only a THEORY and it could be VC on the cover, or maybe even someone else. Though I kind of prefer VC (or Yao Ming for that matter) on the cover, I think this might be Stephon Marbury's year.
P.S. I really hope that EA puts in Yao Ming and Steve Nash sometime in the upcoming years (me being a Chinese-Canadian

).