Kobe Bryant: ‘NBA 2K20’ Players Join Together for Touching Digital Tribute After His Death

The death of Kobe Bryant shocked the entire sports and entertainment community. But it also had an impact on the gaming world as the users of the video game NBA 2K20 paid respect to the Los Lakers Legend. One Twitter user shared a video of gamers showing off custom Lakers gear and Kobe Bryant shirts in NBA 2K’s public area where gamers can play pickup basketball games.

That was not the only tribute seen on NBA 2K20. As soon as users turned on the game, they were greeted with a picture of Bryant. And on NBA 2K20‘s Twitter account, it said in a tweet: “RIP to a Legend. Thank you for your many contributions on and off the court. You are greatly missed.”

“Along with the rest of the world, we are shocked and devastated by the sudden passing of Kobe Bryant,” a representative for publisher 2K Games told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “He has been an inspiration on and off the court to us all, and a valued partner to 2K for many years. We’re inspired and heartened by the ways the 2K player community are rallying together and honoring Kobe — including parades, custom jerseys, intentional 24 second shot clock violations, and dedicated streams.”

Bryant is no stranger to video games. He was the cover athlete on NBA 2K10 and he revealed how much video games made an impact on his life.

“Video games were a big part of my childhood, especially basketball video games, so it’s cool to be the face of a game, especially the 2K game, which is the best out there,” Bryant said to ESPN at the time.

Bryant went on to say when he played with his friends the environment was intense.

“When we were growing up, we played video games with the environment of a hostile crowd,” he says. “So you couldn’t just play video games … it didn’t happen; you didn’t have that luxury. You got hit at and fouled [while you played] to make it as realistic as possible.”

Bryant and his 13-year old daughter, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles along with seven other people including the pilot.