NBA 2K20has suffered a great deal of criticism since its launch last year, but in the wake of the tragic death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, the game is bringing fans together. All over the Internet are stories ofNBA 2K20players paying tribute to Bryant with their online opponents in-game, and 2K Sports itself has added its own tribute to the star basketball player that appears as soon as players boot up the game.
The 2K SportsKobe Bryanttribute inNBA 2K20consists of a black and white photo of Bryant, along with the years 1978-2020. It’s unclear if any new content will be released forNBA 2K20to further memorialize Bryant and his record-breaking NBA career, and we also don’t know how long this in-game tribute be in the game.
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Bryant and eight other individuals, including his 13 year old daughter Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The group was reportedly traveling to a youth basketball practice in Thousand Oaks, California. At the time of this writing, it’s still unclear exactly what caused the helicopter crash, but fog is said to have played a role. Numerous organizations have launched investigations into Bryant’s death, but the results of those investigations have yet to be made public.
Bryant’s unexpected death has had a massive impact. There have been millions of social media posts about Bryant and tributes to him at various sporting events all over the world. Moving forward, it’s likely that tributes to Bryant’s legacy will continue as his fans mourn his passing.
Bryant’s legacy includes numerous video game appearances, including his own series on the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Bryant has been featured as the cover athlete on manyNBAvideo games, includingNBA 2K10and the Legend Edition ofNBA 2K17. Beyond appearing in video games himself, Bryant has also promoted games for Activision, starring in a memorableCall of Duty: Black Opscommercialas well as a commercial forGuitar Hero: World Tour.
It will be interesting to see if this year’s inevitableNBA 2Kgamefeatures a more substantial tribute to Bryant. It will likely release this September, so we won’t find out for quite some time.
NBA 2K20is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
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