NBA 2K League going global

Being one of the biggest and best sports leagues on Earth is not enough for the NBA. Now the basketball goliath wants to conquer the world of e-sports.

As the latest testimony to its global gaming ambitions, the NBA 2K League staged its first-ever international qualifying event, the APAC Invitational, over the weekend in Hong Kong.

Its purpose was to identify elite gamers from the Asia-Pacific region who will become eligible for the 2019 NBA 2K League Draft.

Twenty players were evaluated at the two-day event, which featured scrimmages, a double-elimination tournament and interviews with league representatives and team managers.

The invitational boasted players from Australia, China, New Zealand and the Philippines. The NBA 2K League identified players for the event through the NBA 2K League Combine and through historical performances in NBA 2K events, including the annual NBA 2K Asia Tournament.

“Our goal is for the NBA 2K League to be a truly global league, with players and teams from around the world,” said the league’s managing director, Brendan Donohue.

“Nine international players competed in our inaugural season and our hope is that number will grow every year. Hosting our first international qualifying event is an exciting moment for the NBA 2K League and an important step in further diversifying our player pool.”

The NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software established the 2K League in the United States last year, with 17 teams competing and Knicks Gaming claiming the inaugural title in August.

This year, the league is expanding to 21 teams, each comprising of six players who will compete in 5-on-5 play in a mix of regular-season games, in-season tournaments and playoffs.

Becoming a truly global e-sports league requires a lot more effort, however.

League of Legends (LOL), for example, has been focusing on internationalization for years by opening branches across the globe and welcoming clubs of different countries.

The results of that push have been impressive. According to China’s LOL Pro League (LPL), the live broadcasts of LPL matches were viewed 15 billion times in 2018 in China alone.

NBA 2K’s Donohue said that his league can learn from the LOL model.

“First, we want to make sure we have the best players to play in the 2K league,” said Donohue. “We have the vision that we could have teams around the world, across Asia, Europe and South America.”

The NBA 2K League’s association with the world’s biggest basketball competition means attracting new fans should not be a problem.

“I’ve been a hardcore basketball and NBA fan since I was a little boy, but I’m not tall enough to become a pro basketball athlete,” said Hu Yi, a 27-year-old dubbing actor in Shanghai who participated in the invitational in Hong Kong.

“Through the game I can achieve so much that I could not have done in real basketball games. I’ve played the game for a decade. I’d like to give up my job to become a pro e-sports player.

“I believe one day the league could also open branches in China and welcome Chinese clubs. I really want to be a part of the league and help the NBA 2K’s development in China.

“The NBA 2K League is very different from other e-sports leagues. It’s a bridge of traditional sports and e-sports. The league has so much positive and healthy values, just like real-life basketball.”

Those positive values bode well for NBA 2K’s longevity.

According to Wei Jizhong, honorary life vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia, the connection to traditional sports and positive values was crucial to e-sports’ inclusion in last year’s Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“After long negotiations, we agreed on three principles: no violence, making sports games a priority and guaranteeing fairness,” said Wei.

Although NBA 2K was not among the six titles used at the Asiad, the nature of the game would appear to guarantee the league a promising future.

“We believe in the future of e-sports and we have our own NBA 2k League, but we also believe that kids should be active and be playing sports, especially basketball," said Mark Tatum, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the NBA.

"It’s a balance. E-sports and playing video games can lead to a passion for playing basketball, for getting kids on the courts and shooting basketballs.”