Kobe Bryant
 

On Mamba Day, the final day of Kobe Bryant's career, NBA 2K reminds us of a place where Bryant will never grow old: video games. The franchise announced Bryant will be on the cover of the NBA 2K17 Legend Edition.

"It's a great honor to partner with 2K on the NBA 2K17 Legend Edition," Bryant said in a press release. "As I walk off the NBA court for the final time, it's exciting to know my fans can continue to celebrate my lifelong career as a Los Angeles Laker."

In other words, thanks to modern technology, you can play as the Kobe and Shaq Lakers, or the Kobe and Pau Lakers, or maybe even the Kobe and Karl Malone Lakers if NBA2K allows. That will never go away.

One thing that will go away: the game's awesome/unusual pre-order offer. If you pre-order NBA 2K17 Legend Edition, you get the following swag:

--Kobe poster
--Two Kobe Panini trading cards
--A Black Mamba game controller skin
--30,000 in virtual game currency
--A MyTEAM bundle of three packs (including a guaranteed Kobe limited-use card)
--Nike Kobe XI sneakers
--Kobe No. 8 jersey from Mitchell and Ness
--Kobe hoodie
--More

This actually seems like a pretty amazing deal. Apparently the price of the Legend Edition is only $79.99, about $10-20 more than standard price.

Tickets to Wednesday night's game at the Staples Center are running just a tad higher: $997, on average.

Here's Kobe's career in 2K videos:

More Kobe: Kobe Bryant: Through The Years In Pictures