More on eSports More than five months after being drafted and with more than enough validation from her league and teammates, Evans has learned to take the hate in stride. "It's still there. It's going to always be there. That's something that you can't change," she told The Athletic during the first round of the NBA 2K League playoffs last week. "I can't quit or give up just because a few people who obviously have problems with themselves, they're bothering me. I can't let them get to me and ruin who I am and you know my goal as a 2K player. I will say one thing that keeps me moving and keeps me going is the positivity and the support outweighs the negative." That landscape might be changing, if at a snail's pace, aided in part by efforts to create women-only leagues and tournaments and raise awareness about the level of vitriol women gamers face. But while women supporting women is important, siloing them away from the mainstream gaming world isn't the answer, especially with women fans representing a growing share of esports fans. According to market researcher Interpret, 30 percent of esports watchers are women, a 6.5 percent increase from 2016. As a woman in a man's league, Evans is experiencing these shifts first hand. "I get inboxed all the time from a lot of women that I'm an inspiration. A lot of women who play 2K now, when they get into the 2K League, they're gonna get better to improve their games," she said. "I get messages from a lot of guys, too, but definitely a lot of women, a lot of younger females." And yet, gaming kind of is his day job now. Sheppard, a 50-year-old hoops lifer, was tapped this week to run an esports franchise. In the recent creation of Monumental Basketball, under which the four basketball-related properties owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment will operate, Sheppard has been tasked as the general manager of the Wizards, their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go, and most curiously, Wizards District Gaming of the NBA 2K League. Though Sheppard is in discovery mode about his role with the esports franchise, which recently completed its second season in a video game league that has drawn more than 293 million video views across social media platforms, his attention will be mostly focused outside the virtual world. The NBA 2K League will have $1.2 million in its prize pool for the 2019 season, up $200,000 from the inaugural season last year. Players will receive a base salary of $33,000 for a six-month commitment, with up to $38,000 for players retained from the 2018 season. Meanwhile, the prize pool will be spread out over four tournaments and the league playoffs, with $120,000 up for grabs in the season-opening "THE TIPOFF" tournament. "THE TURN" and "THE TICKET" tournaments each will have $180,000 available in prize money, while the league playoffs will be worth $720,000. Bosh is a person with varied interests: travel, cooking, coding/technology, guitar, family. Add a new one to the list: esports. Bosh has joined esports franchise Gen.G Esports as a player management advisor. Bosh plans to bring his experience in sports to esports: leadership, communication, teamwork, championship ideals, dealing with pressure and off-the-court issues. "It's a dream for me to be able to work with these guys," Bosh said. "The way I look at it, competing at a high level, whether that's business, art or film, athletics, anything you do, there's a certain way to go about it. Being in the NBA, being successful, being able to win championships at the highest level in the world, there's certain core values that you have, certain things you have to follow." This week, Faried announced that he's using the winnings to establish a foundation, Kenneth Faried HAT (for humble, appreciative, and thankful). "With the money I won for charity, I started a foundation called Kenneth Faried HAT. 'HAT' means humble, appreciative, and thankful," he told Joe Lemire of SportsTechie. "I've been a person my whole life who believed that, through obstacles in life that you see, you may have good and bad, but you should always remain humble, appreciative, and thankful for everything—no matter what heights you reach in life or what you receive in this life." http://twitter.com/NBA/status/1035284521485312002 Hurst's eyes have already returned to his screen, but he continued: "I would've driven it right down the lane," where an undefended basket was awaiting him, he said. Hurst is 21 years old and plays NBA 2K professionally in a league funded by the NBA on a team affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. He moved nearly 5,000 miles last April for this job, arriving in Dallas from Reading, England. You might play video games when you get off work; this is Hurst's work, a job that pays him a $32,000 full-time salary for the league's five-month duration. He's likely among the best 100 players in the world. And still, even he can't escape something that has plagued almost anyone who has ever picked up a controller: sometimes, the game just doesn't do what you want it to do, damn it. Jannis Neumann may have eight Dirk Nowitzki bobbleheads perched on his desk, but he had never actually met Nowitzki. On a Thursday earlier this month, after two morning scrimmages online, that changes thanks to an interview set up by a German television station. "If someone had told me I would meet Dirk, I would have told them they're crazy," Neumann said. This is Neumann's first time living in the United States after growing up in northwest Germany, near the Netherlands border. He's one of three international players on the roster – along with Ryan de Villon, or Devillon, from Toronto, Canada, and Hurst, from England – who relocated internationally. http://twitter.com/JeffEisenband/status/1033478487619846144 http://twitter.com/BarriHoopsHype/status/1033041658231877633 "When I was playing NBA 2K12, I consistently put in work every single day," Franklin told HoopsHype. "Then, once I felt I was prepared and ready to face top competition, I started hitting up every Top-25 team and asking them to give me a chance. Back then, if you were on a Top-25 team, people in the 2K community knew who you were. I was just some random guy and nobody knew who I was, but I became a pest. I messaged every Top-25 team saying, 'I know you don't know me, but give me a chance. All I need is one tryout and I'll show you that I'm one of the best.' Then, I got a shot and earned a spot on the No. 3 team. Two years later, in NBA 2K14, GameBattles had a playoff with a $2,000 prize – the largest 2K prize pool in GameBattles history – and my team won that. After that, I really knew, 'Yeah, this is for me.' I became obsessed with it, doing anything I could push myself and become better." Less than a year ago, Chris Toussaint was a high-school student who loved eSports, but he didn't have any experience playing NBA 2K. Now, at 18 years old, he's the general manager of Magic Gaming in the NBA 2K League. How did Toussaint get hired by the Orlando Magic and become the youngest person working in the 2K League? By sending a cold email to Director of Magic Gaming Ryan DeVos. "I reached out to the Magic and Ryan DeVos after I found his email by doing some research online," Toussaint told HoopsHype. "I sent him a cold email, just like I had done so many times when I was starting out in the eSports world, and he actually responded. That led to a lunch meeting with Ryan, where I was able to talk a little bit about myself and what my aspirations are in this business. About two to three weeks later, I was at the final stages of my interview with the Magic to become the general manager of their 2K League team. Then, I was hired a few days later. This was back in October of 2017." http://twitter.com/NBA2KLeague/status/992952338796163072 http://twitter.com/TheWhiteKite23/status/993103452732567557 My video game participation peaked with Goldeneye for Nintendo 64. Even so, those of us with an interest in court design awaited what NBA teams might do with their virtual floors. They could be more adventurous, and if some nutty out-of-the-box gamble resonated, perhaps they might one day incorporate it into real NBA games featuring real humans playing real basketball. ESPN obtained an exclusive first look at the finished courts. Here they are, in alphabetical order, with some instant analysis: 76ers Gaming Club. Philly may have the NBA's best top-to-bottom art. The mix of blue, red, and clean nods to history always works. This is a little more audacious, and doesn't quite match Philly's usual standards. The empty paint trend mostly phased out of the NBA over the last two or three years, but as we're going to see, it (unfortunately) returns with a vengeance in the virtual NBA. Lightly shaded logos within each 3-point arc are very much in -- see Denver and New Orleans in real life -- but this version is clunky. There are just too many shaded objects competing for your eye's attention. Woods, 18, is the youngest player in the league. He made the call to drop out of University of Tennessee-Martin. First-round picks will make $35,000; others will make $32,000. One million dollars in prize money will be at stake over the course of the season. The playoff pool is $600,000 with the league champion receiving $300,000. Eight teams reach the postseason. "(My parents) let me drop out to go for it and just told me to try my best. If I want to change up, I can go back to school," Woods said. "You can always go to school, but not everybody gets the chance to be a professional gamer. I want to do this. God forbid that I have to go back, I can always go back." http://twitter.com/joshhart/status/983156820075147264 Storyline: eSports
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