The official announcement won't be made until a 30-second commercial airs on ABC prior to Game 1 Thursday night, but here's the scoop: 2K Sports has settled on Kobe Bryant to grace the cover of NBA 2K10 ... even if they haven't settled on a cover.
They're leaving that last detail to the fans, and as you can see, they're open to the possibility that Kobe might trade the laid-back glitz of the Staples Center for the basketball mecca known as Madison Square Garden. (It'll make more sense once the commercial airs, trust me.) Once the official announcement is made, fans can vote for their favorite of four covers -- keep reading to see the other three.
Is a move to New York all that far-fetched? While everyone's been theorizing how LeBron James might jump to the Knicks in 2010, people tend to forget that Kobe has the option of becoming a free agent this summer.
And considering this is widely regarded as Phil Jackson's final season with the Lakers, who's to say that Kobe won't follow his lead and close this chapter of his career by switching coasts?
Well, it's a nice theory, but we can't forget that small detail known as the "salary cap." If Bryant opts for free agency, he'll leave $23 million on the table for 2009-10, and $24.8 million in 2010-11. There's not another team in the league that can afford to pay him that much, much less the Knicks, who are still 12 months away from being able to afford another max contract.
But still, Kobe running free in Mike D'Antoni's offense? It's certainly fun to think about, even if the only time we'll ever see it is in a video game.
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/06/04/kobe ... -nba-2k10/
