The late legend Kobe Bryant is officially the poster boy for NBA 2K24. It will mark his second stint as the cover athlete after the Mamba Forever Edition of NBA 2K21.NBA 2K has been adapting each NBA basketball season into video game form since 1999. Now NBA 2K24 is officially in the works and is due out soon. Sparse details have been revealed about the game yet, rendering most fan discussion to be rooted in speculation, but today, some concrete information is finally available to the public.As revealed on the official NBA 2K Twitter account, the newest entry will launch with two editions: the Kobe Bryant Edition and the Black Mamba Edition. The box arts for both editions were also revealed, the former featuring Bryant performing a dunk against a kaleidoscopic background, while the latter simply features a zoomed-in profile of his sweaty, determined face. The practice of releasing multiple editions is nothing new for the NBA 2K series (or video games in general these days), so it's not surprising to see the tradition continue with the next installment. The tweet further went on to note that pre-orders for the game are set to open on July 7th.
Fans in the comments appeared to be excited about this packaging decision, filling the replies with heart and snake emojis. The official Xbox account also praised the choice, subtly hinting at a version coming to its consoles. Some began to speculate as to what players would appear on other editions, a few users demanded that there be cross-play between versions, and another few noted the missed opportunity to not feature Bryant wearing his iconic 24 jersey as opposed to the 8 seen in the cover art. The latter is particularly notable, since his in-game renders from prior games did honor that detail.
Kobe Bryant was an undeniable legend among professional basketball players, and even forayed into video games once or twice. His tragic death shook the world, including those who might not be as into basketball, so honoring him in the NBA 2K series was a very obvious move, and one that's thankfully been done multiple times so far. It should be interesting to see how else NBA 2K24 could further pay tribute to him once it lands on store shelves and online shops.
NBA 2K24 is poised to release in September 2023.