Video Games

NBA 2K24 reveals Kobe Bryant as cover star

2K has announced the next iteration of the basketball sim series

Marco Wutz

NBA 2K24 reveals Kobe Bryant as cover star
NBA 2K24 reveals Kobe Bryant as cover star /
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Contents

  1. NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition cover
  2. NBA 2K24 Black Mamba Edition cover

It’s official: Kobe Bryant is on the cover of NBA 2K24’s Kobe Bryant and Black Mamba Editions, following a series of other stars onto the box art of the biggest basketball video game of the year.

Bryant, who died aged 41 in a helicopter crash in 2020, was an 18-time NBA All-Star, five-time NBA Champion, two-time Finals MVP winner, and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist for the US. Active in the NBA from 1996 to 2016, he remained a Los Angeles Lakers player for the entirety of his career. The team retired both numbers Bryant used – 8 and 24 – upon his departure from professional play. The athlete went on to remain successful after his sports career as well, winning an Academy Award in 2018 for his animated short film Dear Basketball.

His iconic Black Mamba nickname, after which one of NBA 2K24’s editions has been named, was a self-created epithet that found popular usage among his fans.

Bryant was already featured on NBA 2K21’s Mamba Forever Edition, which paid tribute to his career after his death, and previously appeared on the game’s cover for 2K10 and 2K17 – the latter celebrated his career after his retirement from the NBA.

NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition cover

NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition cover art showing a young Kobe Bryant jumping into the air.
The NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant edition cover art shows a young Bryant in action / 2K Games

NBA 2K24 Black Mamba Edition cover

NBA 2K24 Black Mamba Edition cover art showing a close-up of Kobe Bryant's face.
The NBA 2K24 Black Mamba Edition cover art depicts a more seasoned Bryant / 2K Games

Predecessor NBA 2K23 featured Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker on the cover of the Standard Edition. Michael Jordan and Championship Editions of the game were available as well – both featured the titular legendary athlete on the cover.

NBA 2K24 will be available later this year.

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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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