It’s 2K being lazy. In 2004 Kobe had almost no ink on his arm and had a full head of hair instead of being bald. He also clearly looks way older. It’s a matter of them not wanting to be bothered. One year they copy and pasted 2005 Amare from the suns onto the 2012 Knicks, wrong uniform number, no goggles, no ink, same exact attributes and everything. Until last year they copy and pasted Alonzo mourning from the 1993 hornets to the 2006 heat too even though Zo had been bald for years by then. Same Shaq models on his 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2006 classic teams when he progressively added more ink with each of those teams. 2K just doesn’t want to be bothered putting effort in. All they put any focus on is monetizing the game and making it so broken that you have to pay to win every year. Most developers and publishers (even EA) wouldn’t be this lazy. They’re just as bad with the smackdown series every year too.