The NBA finally enters the E-Sports realm after partnering up with Take-Two Interactive to form the NBA 2K League. The NBA 2K League will feature 17 NBA Clubs, more than half of the 30 team NBA Franchises.
The NBA 2K League recently held its Draft for the 17 Participating NBA clubs with the Mavs Gaming, the Dallas Mavericks E-Sports affiliate, getting the 1st overall pick. Mavs Gaming then went ahead and drafted Artreyo Boyd (aka Dimez) with the 1st overall pick. His in-game player is a 6’5 Playmaking Point Guard which he likens to a hybrid version of Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul.
Check out Dimez’ highlights here
Related: Filipino gamer wins the NBA 2K17 Asia tournament
If ever you’re wondering about the contract and salary details for each player, here’s a rough estimate of how much they will be paid along with other benefits. The players will live with their teammates and will get a salary of $35,000 for first round picks and $32,000 for the other players drafted after the 1st round. They’ll also get medical insurance and a retirement plan.
The 2K League is set to start this coming May 2018 and will conclude its first season by August 2018. The winner of the NBA 2K league will be rewarded $1,000,000.
See also: You can now enroll in an eSports school in the Philippines
This seems to be a gamble on the NBA’s part as the interest in competitive Basketball games are still unknown. Compared to popular MOBA and FPS Games which sold out arenas in various countries, it is still unclear if this would be the same case with the 2K League.
The good thing about this partnership is it looks like the NBA is all in. “From the NBA standpoint, this is our fourth league,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “We have the NBA, WNBA and the G League and now this is the fourth league in our family, and that’s exactly how we’re treating it.”
The NBA 2K league will experience some growing pains but with the NBA’s backing, I’m sure they’ll be able to go past that.
For the complete list of NBA Teams participating and the NBA 2K League Draft order, check it out here
Source: Polygon