NBA 2K players listen up, if you ever believed your skills were so good you deserved to get paid, the NBA is willing to do so with the NBA 2K League.
Back in February, NBA 2K developer Take-Two Interactive and the NBA announced they would be partnering together to merge sports and e-sports together with their own eLeague. In an interview with Engadget, NBA 2K League Managing Director, Brendan Donohue announced the league will start in May.
What sets this league apart from the rest is the fact that teams will be owned by the NBA’s professional teams. So far 17 out of the 32 teams will be participating those teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards.
There are “four to five” other teams looking to join the league in its second season according to Donahue. Noticeably absent from the list are the Spurs, Bulls, and Lakers but they could each be one of those “four to five” interested next year.
NBA teams will begin drafting eSports players in mid-March 2018, tryouts will be held a month before. Each team will have five players, they will become official representatives of their organizations by April. Yup that means you get an official contract and sponsorship deals just like an actual NBA players.
How ill is that?
Things are shaping up quite nicely for the 2K League, but there are still other logistical matters that haven’t been finalized yet. They still don’t know how the tryout system will work, or what system to play the games on (whispers PS4) primarily. There is also the small matter of where fans will be able to view the games whether it will be ESPN , Twitch, or their own network NBA TV. There is also no word on if there will be an age restriction on the league. According to Donahue the only thing that will matter male or female is if your 2K skills are up to par.
We gave yall the information, now all you need to do is turn on your gaming systems and get to work. Remember when they said video games are a waste of time? Yeah we don’t remember that either.
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Photo: screen shot
