NBA goes e-sports through 2K league

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--The e-sports madness has reached the NBA.

The American basketball league will officially launch its 2K League next month.

Seventeen e-sports teams representing 17 NBA teams will take part in the inaugural season, and the teams took part in the draft at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday (Philippine Time).

Dallas-based Mavs Gaming made Artreyo Boyd the first choice of the said draft, while Celtics Crossover took Albano Thomallari as the second pick.

Jazz Gaming went for Shaka Browne with the third pick, while Kings Guard broke the trend of choosing Position 1 (point guard) players and took Position 4 (power forward) guy Mitchell Franklin with the fourth pick.

Pistons Gaming took another Position 4 in Ramo Radoncic as the fifth pick.

Portland's Blazer5 took Position 5 (center) Dayne Downey with the sixth pick even as Heat Check took another center in Juan Gonzalez at number seven.

It was only at the 13th pick where a small forward was chosen in Pacers Gaming's Bryant Colon.

All the Position 2 applicants were snubbed in the first round, but a shooting guard was the first pick of the second round in Warriors Gaming Squad's Alex Reese.

The 17 teams were asked to pick one point guard, one shooting guard, one small forward, one power forward, and one center in the first five rounds, while they were given freedom to choose a sixth player regardless of the position in the final round of the draft.

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