Kobe Bryant in 'NBA 2K21' Cover Mock-up Has Fans Emotional

Every year, NBA fans eagerly anticipate the reveal of the "NBA 2K" cover athlete. The long-running basketball video game has a massive audience and routinely creates arguments with the player choices. This year's iteration, however, is very different considering that NBA fans are calling for Kobe Bryant to grace the cover of the video game following his death in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash.

One Twitter user didn't wait to see if 2K Sports will fulfill the fan wishes. They created a mock-up that showed a young Bryant lying on the court with his head on a basketball. NBA fans saw this design surface on social media and struggled to hold back their emotions. They felt that this was a perfect choice for the upcoming video game and pleaded with the game's designers to make this cover a reality. Although a few others posted some iterations that also featured Bryant's daughter Gianna.