Video gamers now have a chance to compete for an NBA title, in an actual NBA arena and get paid by the some of the same people who pay LeBron James and Steph Curry.
That's right, the NBA 2K eLeague is coming -- the first eSports league operated by one of the four major pro sports leagues in the United States.
The NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software announced early Thursday morning that they are bringing some of the world's best gamers together to compete while representing actual NBA teams, a competition Commissioner Adam Silver hopes will continue to expand the league's global brand.
"The large part of my mission is to grow the game of basketball," Silver told The Associated Press. "There's going to be an opportunity for this first-of-a-kind league to attract a group of gamers who might be playing some other game. Now, they can say 'Maybe I couldn't play for the Knicks, because I didn't have the physical prowess to compete at that level. But I do have the mental and physical prowess to compete as an egamer for the eKnicks.'"
NBA 2K eLeague is scheduled to debut in 2018. The league will start with nearly half of the NBA teams -- Silver did not say which teams, but noted that eventually all 30 NBA teams will be represented. Each NBA owner is being given the opportunity to build teams at their own pace.
Gamers will be chosen through a recruiting process by NBA teams and Take-Two. They'll go through a virtual version of a combine and be selected in a draft, which Silver said will either be televised or streamed online.
Each NBA franchise will select five gamers to represent its team.
From there, the team of gamers will play in a regular season, advance to the playoffs and the top teams will compete for a championship, which most likely will take place at an NBA arena, Silver said.
"We want to make this as real as possible," said Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, the parent company of 2K games. He said there will be a cash prize for the winner similar to some of the past NBA 2K tournaments that awarded a $250,000 grand prize.
Catch that bus
The Saint Louis University men's basketball team lost a game to St. Bonaventure -- and then its bus.
The Billikens walked out of the arena Wednesday night following a 70-55 loss to the Bonnies, and their bus was nowhere to be found, New York State Police Trooper James O'Callaghan told The Associated Press. The driver, later identified as 56-year-old Linda Edmister of Gasport, N.Y., had taken off.
While authorities searched for the bus, the players sat in the arena. The team posted pictures on social media of players talking on their cellphones, playing cards and napping.
State police said the bus was eventually stopped in Randolph, N.Y., about 40 miles away. Troopers said they found it through GPS on an item left on the bus, which the school later confirmed was Coach Travis Ford's iPad.
Troopers charged Edmister with driving a commercial vehicle while intoxicated. Police say her blood alcohol content was 0.22 percent, more than five times the 0.04 percent limit for commercial drivers.
O'Callaghan said police don't believe Edmister was drunk when she drove the team to the arena. He said troopers don't know exactly when she left campus or why she left. The game ended around 8:30 p.m. Central, and troopers said Edmister was pulled over shortly before 10 p.m.
Another bus took the Billikens to Randolph so the team could retrieve their possessions from the first bus. They were then taken to the airport in nearby Bradford, Pa., to fly home and arrived in St. Louis around 3 a.m. Central on Thursday.
Sports quiz
What is the Saint Louis Billikens' best finish in the NCAA men's basketball tournament?
Answer
The Billikens have reached the Sweet Sixteen twice (1952, 1957).
Sports on 02/10/2017