Thursday, March 28, 2024

NBA 2K League: Everything You Need To Know.

April 29, 2018 by  
Filed under Opinion, Sports, Tech/Internet, Weekly Columns

Like
Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry
1

(ThyBlackMan.com) The NBA 2K League inaugural season will start in May and run through August. With salary, prize money, and other perks, teams will get life-changing opportunities during this eSport event. The NBA 2K League is created by Take Two Interactive and the National Basketball Association (NBA). The joint venture aims to feature world’s best NBA 2K players.

Last year, Take Two Interactive and NBA announced that the NBA 2K League is inviting around 70,000 2K18 players to try their luck to pursue a career in the league. In January and February 2018, some tryout sessions took place and finally in March, the NBA 2K League draft made it clear that the organizations are taking eSport gaming to a new level.

The organizers have selected 102 players and divided them into 17 teams each having 6 members. These players have become NBA’s first professional gamers. The news of NBA joining hands with Take Two Interactive was a shocking event for many people in the industry because no sports association has ever considered eSports as important as how NBA is viewing it. Recently, NBA organized the NBA 2K League draft ceremony in New York’s Madison Square Garden where all the selected players joined the organizers on stage and represented their teams.

Big money is being invested in this league. Each player in the NBA 2K League has signed a six-month contract of $35,000 which is for the first-round picks, and those who were picked in the lower rounds have signed a contract of $32,000. Apart from the salary, players also have the chance to win $1 million. The award money is divided among three tournaments and playoffs.

Once you become the first professional gamer in NBA, you can expect many advertising deals from companies around the world. The organizers have also made it clear that players can sign endorsement deals. Additionally, players will be given support to cover their medical, travel, and living expenses.

Since there are different franchises in the League, each of these franchises will be having its own apartments or dedicated houses for players. NBA is also organizing weekly live gaming shows for the audience in its studio. So, every week, players will be flying to NBA studios to play the game in front of live audience in eSports settings.

The experience would be matchless and NBA is making sure that the players get adjusted well to their new settings and environment. NBA said that these digital warriors also need to have sound sleep, healthy diets, and physical fitness. According to NBA, full-body wellness is a must no matter if they are playing on the court or on a console and the organizers will take care of the wellness of all the players.

It all sounds amazing and may look like a dream job to many gamers, but the road to $1 million is not easy. Your gaming skills alone wouldn’t help you get there and that’s the reason many good players who tried to get into the league were rejected. Other than your gaming skills, what you do on social media plays a major role in getting selected for the NBA 2K League. According to the organizers, players need to have some identity online and they should have good communication skills. Players with offensive gamertag and those who don’t follow basic social rules will find it hard to get into this league.

The process to be the best player in professional gaming isn’t easy but those who got selected have debunked the myth that playing video games can’t pay off. It seems that more people will relate themselves to such profession because just like how athletes put their time and efforts to improve their skills, professional gamers do the same. Such events will definitely encourage people to pursue a career in eSports.

Starting from May 1, the 15-week season will comprise of matchups and tournaments. Each team will participate in a minimum of 19 games. There will be 14 regular season matches and teams will also play three additional tournaments.

Staff Writer; Corey Shaw

Have any Tech Tips? News? Hit up our Tech Guru at; CoreyS@ThyBlackMan.com


Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!