NBA 2K20Â has been updated to introduce a loading screen paying tribute to late Kobe Bryant, who died aged 41 in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning.
Developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Games reacted to the death of the five-time NBA champion with Los Angeles Lakers, and the basketball team he played for 20 years.
The new loading screen can be seen by players as soon as they start the game, and has Bryant’s face alongside the year of birth and death in a somber black and white box.
The very respectful tribute to this sports’ legend was also extended to billboards in the NBA 2K20‘s “The Neighborhood,” which serves as a hub for the “MyPlayer” mode. The hub has also seen players gather to remember the champion as soon as the news broke collectively.
Visual Concepts and 2K Games have also issued a tweet to pay tribute to Kobe Bryant in the follow up to the incident.
“RIP to a Legend,” says the tweet. “Thank you for your many contributions on and off the court. You are greatly missed.”
The tweet carries an image of Kobe Bryant that was used for the cover of NBA 2K17 Legend Edition, which featured both digital and physical limited edition content dedicated to him, including a wall poster and a controller skin.
Bryant was a first-round pick in the 1996 draft, winning 5 NBA championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, and he was the league MVP in ’08. In his honor, Los Angeles Lakers retired both of his jerseys numbers 8 and 24.
