The popular NBA 2K video game franchise has given Kobe Bryant a player rating of 85, which happens to be the lowest of his storied career.
The "Black Mamba" @kobebryant in #NBA2K16, who has appeared in EVERY @NBA2K game to date! pic.twitter.com/Iy6vbRg5N6
— Ronnie 2K 2K16 (@Ronnie2K) August 28, 2015
As you might imagine, this did not please the Mamba Army.
Bryant, 37, has seen his player rating slide in recent years, as he’s dealt with numerous injuries and the ravages of time.
Per Lakers Nation:
Kobe’s rating has slowly declined over the last couple of seasons, but it makes sense for the most part. Kobe is entering his 20th season and can’t do the things that he’s done throughout most of his career. Additionally, he has suffered season-ending injuries in each of the last three seasons.
While his rating isn’t as high as it was during his peak 2003-2010 years, Kobe will surely still be fun to play with and the Lakers team as a whole will be more formidable with the additions of Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Brandon Bass as well as improved ratings for players like Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle.
Kobe probably isn’t the type of person to pay attention to video games, but if he needed a little bit of extra motivation coming into the season, to go along with ESPN predicting a 14th place finish in the West, he could definitely use this as a reason to prove people wrong.