Part of our weird love hate relationship with NBA 2K is that the publisher tells us when we'll stop playing it and we just deal. NBA 2K24's servers went offline for good Dec. 31. But because NBA 2K and Kobe Bryant's estate aren't friendly with each other right now, that meant Dec. 31 was the last time for the foreseeable future we could play Kobe in MyTeam.
As is often the case with licensing deals, we don't know the details of the split. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were a matter of money, and how much or how little 2K was willing to pay for Kobe's rights.
Players found out Kobe's estate wasn't working with NBA 2K any more in the worst possible way back in 2024. A collector level reward was suddenly changed from Bryant to a player's choice of several other cards just hours before it was to go live. The debacle led many players to swear they were done with 2K. Did this controversy further escalate issues between 2K and the Bryant estate? Again, we may never know, but a mountain of negative publicity is never a good thing to bring to the negotiating table.
Bryant was one of the most popular basketball players of all time, and his untimely death places him in that same kind of time capsule occupied by Kurt Cobain or James Dean. With his basketball career over, Bryant had already won an Oscar for his five-minute short Dear Basketball. His second act looked like it would be brilliant, but it was cut tragically short.
Kobe's the biggest name that doesn't appear in 2K''s MyTeam, and he will be conspicuous by his absence until he eventually returns.
Lots of players, including some of our favorite content creators, booted NBA 2K24 up one last time to say what we hope is a temporary goodbye.