NBA fans are still reeling one week after the news of Kobe Bryant’s death rocked the world. This is perhaps the most shocking death of an athlete in sports history, though one could make an argument for Roberto Clemente in 1972. Nonetheless, Kobe’s death has brought out countless tributes by the NBA and the world as a whole. A beloved figure in countless communities, Bryant’s death won’t ever feel truly real.
One of those communities, the NBA 2K fanbase, is calling for something specific to immortalize Kobe. These fans are asking for the developers to make Kobe Bryant the featured athlete on NBA 2K21.
Will Kobe grace the cover one last time?
Kobe Bryant was no stranger to the cover of NBA 2K games. He was the cover athlete for NBA 2K10 and one of the Legends Edition for NBA 2K17. While it’s rare for an athlete to be featured three times, the community feels 2K can make this exception.
Since his death, players in 2K20 have been doing their own tributes to remember Bryant. This includes taking 24-second and 8-second violations to honor both of his retired numbers for the Los Angeles Lakers. Official NBA teams started this trend on Sunday afternoon, just hours after the news broke. Also, 2K players have been walking around MyPark with Kobe Bryant jerseys on.
Bigger than basketball.
Rest In Peace, 24 🙏 https://t.co/oL4ERWEx4m
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 26, 2020
This is incredible. Thank you for coming together as a community to pay your respects https://t.co/6Q43AixPZg
— Ronnie 2K 2K22 (@Ronnie2K) January 27, 2020
The NBA 2K team did its own tribute to Kobe, posting an image to the login screen on 2K20. However, fans feel that’s not enough, and they would like to see Bryant on the cover of NBA 2K once again. 2K21 is scheduled to release in September of this year, so there’s plenty of time for 2K to make this happen. And this move does seem like it’d make sense for everyone involved.
What do you think should happen? Let us know, and keep up with Daily Esports for more gaming news.
