Accidental Pink Diamond LeBron James Freebie Removed from NBA 2K19 Users, Sparking Controversy

2K Games’ NBA 2K19 has been under a microscope ever since it launched, due to concerns over microtransactions that really blew up when the previous iteration launched. While things have still been shaky, a ray of hope shone over the game’s community over the holiday weekend when a code granting players a “Pink Diamond” LeBron James card began to circulate. This code ended up being called a mistake by 2K, and the LeBron James cards were removed from users’ collection. This has spawned a new wave of upset from the fans, particularly because there was more at stake than just an accidental free card.

The code itself has a bit of a mysterious air about it. YouTuber “Shake4andBake” spread it out via Twitter, but it’s unclear where it came from. Regardless, while this Pink Diamond card isn’t entirely a game-breaker or anything, it’s certainly a great head start for newer players, or those who aren’t already dropping real cash on in-game card packs. So, when word of the card spread, many players naturally snapped it up and spent their own resources on it.

In NBA 2K19, you can use various items on cards, some of the more hard to get ones even applying permanent boosts. As you can see in a Reset Era post or the current Reddit thread on the issue (source links located under the gallery), while most people don’t seem to really care about losing the card, 2K has not yet acknowledged the extra, sometimes pricey, resources players pumped into their cards. Based on what seems like a mistake on 2K’s end, tons of legitimately-earned boosts have vanished into thin air along with the card. Of course, if the issue is responded to officially, we’ll provide an update.

[Source: Reset Era, Reddit]