The NBA 2K League open tryouts are coming to an end on Wednesday. If you didn’t know the tryouts were happening, it’s a bit too late. Players must have won 50 Pro-Am games in January to qualify for the inaugural NBA 2K League draft in March. An expanded pool of 102 players will be drafted by the inaugural 17 NBA gaming teams.
NBA teams including the Boston Celtics have been preparing for this jump into esports. The Celtics have created Celtics Crossover Gaming and as a non-endemic esports brand has partnered with veteran esports organization Splyce to “bring the best minds together in anticipation of the NBA 2K League,” according to CLTX Gaming managing director Jim Ferris.
“We asked ourselves, ‘What helps us build the best possible team? What is the long term game for us?’” Ferris said. “Splyce helped us answer those questions. They are a key component in building a solid foundation for our organization.”
Splyce will bring its expertise, collaborating with CLTX Gaming with initiatives such as roster personnel and player development while contributing to competitive analysis and gameplay strategy.
Splyce, which has teams in many different games including League of Legends, had had its player management and scouting team learn the 2K competitive scene in preparation for helping CLTX Gaming with the draft. And for fan engagement, Splyce is educating the Celtics on how to create content and run social accounts with a voice that fits into the esports community.
Splyce will also assist with the design and layout of the training facility and team living space in the Boston area. Splyce is already familiar with Boston sports and the Garden, as the organization partnered with Delaware North — parent company of the Boston Bruins — in February 2017 to use TD Garden as an esports venue. Based out of Rochester, N.Y., Splyce has put a focus on building a brand in the Northeast.
“We want to cultivate a local fan base and partnerships,” Splyce co-owner Marty Strenczewilk said. “If we were going to get involved in the 2K League, it was going to be with a winning organization and the Celtics fit the bill.”
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The symbiotic relationship of esports and sports promises to pay dividends for both industries. The traditional sports world gets a way to connect with a younger demographic and build fan loyalty from an early age. The esports industry gets an added sense of legitimacy and big partners who can move around the necessary money to help push esports into mainstream consciousness. The Sacramento Kings, for example, invested in an esports facility in Golden 1 Center.
“The 2K League is important in how esports are evolving,” Strenczewilk said. “It’s important to us as esports owners to help something like this grow. Its success is our success too.”
Not all sports fans are welcoming to the addition of video games into the sports world. If you hang around the ESPN comments section on an esports article, you will see plenty of them championing that belief.
“When ESPN first got involved, you saw a lot of backlash about, ‘Why are nerds playing video games on the screen?’” Strenczewilk said. “I’m 38 years old, I have a job and three kids and a mortgage, and I’m an esports fan.”
In fact, many NBA players gravitate towards gaming to fill the downtime on road trips between games. That includes the Celtics’ Gordon Hayward, who is the NBA’s self-proclaimed best League of Legends player.