Even without a basketball competitor on the market, and an array of other sports games releasing from the end of August through September, the NBA 2K series continues to push its release date forward and put distance between itself and the start of the actual season – the opposite of what every other sports gaming franchise has done in recent years.

Just two years ago the standard for NBA games as mandated by the licensing agreement was to go out on the first Tuesday in October, and now the extremely popular franchise will be going out nearly three weeks earlier than that despite the season not tipping off until the end of October. NBA 2K17 will release on September 16 to those who pre-order and September 20 otherwise.

Additionally the more traditional pre-order incentive lineup has been partially revealed. Included will be 5,000 Virtual Currency (which has a value of $2) and a MyTeam bundle with three packs and a guaranteed Paul George “Free Agent” card.

Also newly announced is the $100 “Kobe Bryant Legend Edition Gold” will include an additional 70,000 VC ($20 worth), two more MyTeam Packs with a guaranteed Michael Jordan “Free Agent” card, digital Nike Kobe shoe collection and Special Kobe lenticular cover insert.

Kobe Bryant is celebrated Legend Editions which goes for $80/$100 while Paul George fronts the standard edition. All are available for 20% off to Amazon Prime members.

In April it was announced that the special “Legend Edition” of NBA 2K17 would celebrate the career of Kobe Bryant. The standard edition of the game however will feature a current player – Paul George of the Indiana Pacers.

It’s no surprise that George was the choice considering his relationship with 2K Sports. George most recently fronted the NBA 2K16 mobile app and appeared in the special edition Kobe commerical. With the number of premier players essentially eliminated from contention (due to appearances on recent 2K or NBA Live covers) that left Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, and maybe Karl-Anthony Towns as the others who had a real shot at it.

So Kobe Bryant will likely be presented as the primary face of the marketing campaign but George will stand as another story to be told, one that includes overcoming a devastating injury, and that could very well be part of this year’s MyCareer storyline.

He also appears in his Team USA uniform on the cover and that could mean an Olympics presence in the game. Remember, last year the cover athletes were shown in their college uniforms also, and that tied in with licensed universities appearing in the story mode. Unfortunately the Olympics will be over by the time 2K17 comes out – similar to FIFA 16 and the Women’s World Cup – but there would still be great interest in a mode dedicated to it or even just the teams being in Play Now or it being part of the story mode.

The release date has yet to be announced but is expected once again in late September. NBA 2K17 is available to Amazon Prime members for 20% off the price – $48 for the standard edition and $64 for the special edition.

The free games that are provided monthly as a part of the PlayStation Plus service have helped justify the costs beyond the ability to just access online features on the PlayStation 4. Very often they’ve been compelling titles and even included brand new ones like Rocket League. Sony today announced the lineup of games for June, and while it’s unclear what date they’ll be first made available for free (possibly tomorrow) the big news is that NBA 2K16 is one of them!

Sports games have generally not been included in the free games program. That’s due in part to their limited cycle of relevance and need to maximize sales during that period, but also because there’s the EA Access program on Xbox One pulling in the EA Sports games which the company won’t be giving to a competing subscription service. That leaves only a few games on the table.

NBA 2K16 remains relevant as the NBA Finals begin later this week and could stretch as long as June 19. There’s still nearly four full months until 2K17 arrives. Though the majority with heavy interest in the game may already own it, there will now be the opportunity to grab it for free and sell/trade-in those copies and it could attract new players that will then spend money digitally within the game and/or buy NBA 2K17 when it releases at the end of September.