From the initial announcement of the NBA 2K League, there has been a lot of excitement around what was to come. On April 4th, the league held their draft, marking the beginning of an exciting, innovative sports league.
A total of 72,000 participants jumped in to compete for a spot. That number was eventually whittled down to 250, then the final 102. There are 17 NBA teams who are partnered with an esports team: Mavericks, Celtics, Jazz, Kings, Pistons, Blazers, Heat, Magic, Knicks, Bucks, Raptors, Wizards, Pacers, 76ers, Grizzlies, Cavs and Warriors.
For those not taking this new league seriously, you may want to rethink your stance. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was at the draft, which appeared very similar to the actual NBA Draft. Silver called the new esports league the “fourth league in our family.” Of course, they are joined by the NBA, WNBA and G League.
Another reason to take this league seriously is the paycheck these players receive. The 17 first-round selections earn a salary of $35,000, then the rest of the draftees earn $32,000 each. That’s not all, because all of these teams will also be competing for a prize pool of $1 million.
As you can imagine, these numbers sparked some anger with those who don’t quite understand the business side of this. The 2K League players will actually be earning more than most G League players, while WNBA players earned between $41,000-115,000 this past season.
You can argue that players in the G League and WNBA should make more money, I certainly won’t, but the 2K League players will earn every cent of their salary because they will bring a large audience to these games and plenty of new sponsors.
The following are the full draft results:
First Round
| 1 | Mavs Gaming | Dimez (Artreyo Boyd) |
| 2 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | oFAB (Albano Thomallari) |
| 3 | Jazz Gaming | Yeah I Compete (Shaka Browne) |
| 4 | Kings Guard Gaming | Mootyy (Mitchell Franklin) |
| 5 | Pistons GT | Lets Get It Ramo (Ramo Radoncic) |
| 6 | Blazer5 Gaming | OneWildWalnut (Dayne Downey) |
| 7 | Heat Check Gaming | Hotshot (Juan Gonzalez) |
| 8 | Magic Gaming | KontruL (Christopher Cantrell) |
| 9 | Knicks Gaming | G O O F Y 7 5 7 (Dayvon Curry) |
| 10 | Bucks Gaming | DRAKE GRIFFIN (Aaron Rookwood) |
| 11 | Raptors Uprising GC | Kenny (Kenneth Hailey) |
| 12 | Wizards District Gaming | Fresh Prince JT (Johnathon Fields) |
| 13 | Pacers Gaming | WoLF (Bryant Colon) |
| 14 | 76ers GC | Radiant (Ethan White) |
| 15 | Grizz Gaming | Winner_Stayz_On (Larell Mitchell) |
| 16 | Cavs Legion GC | Hood is Glitchy (Brandon Caicedo) |
| 17 | Warriors Gaming Squad | Shawn_Win (Trong Nguyen) |
Second Round
| 18 | Warriors Gaming Squad | Bsmoove (Alex Reese) |
| 19 | Cavs Legion GC | Sick x 973 (Gerald Knapp) |
| 20 | Grizz Gaming | AuthenticAfrican (Mehyar Ahmed-Hassan) |
| 21 | 76ers GC | Newdini33 (Antonio Newman) |
| 22 | Pacers Gaming | Swizurk (Nicolas Grech) |
| 23 | Wizards District Gaming | Shump (Austin Painter) |
| 24 | Raptors Uprising GC | Detoxys (Christopher Doyle) |
| 25 | Bucks Gaming | oLARRY (Timothy Anselimo) |
| 26 | Knicks Gaming | NateKahl (Nate Kahl) |
| 27 | Magic Gaming | UCMANNY (Emmanuel Cruz) |
| 28 | Heat Check Gaming | MaJes7ic (Stanley Lebron) |
| 29 | Blazer5 Gaming | Mama Im Dat Man (Nidal Nasser) |
| 30 | Pistons GT | iiNsaniTTy (Kris Dellarciprete) |
| 31 | Kings Guard Gaming | worthingcolt (Jhade Black) |
| 32 | Jazz Gaming | MrSlaughter01 (Malik Leisinger) |
| 33 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | ARS0NAL x (Devon Peek) |
| 34 | Mavs Gaming | Dayfri (Ryan Conger) |
Third Round
| 35 | Mavs Gaming | JLB (Jannis Neumann) |
| 36 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | Melo East (Ahmed Kasana) |
| 37 | Jazz Gaming | Deedz (DeMar Butler) |
| 38 | Kings Guard Gaming | Timelycook (Eric Donald) |
| 39 | Pistons GT | ixsplashkingxi (Rochell Woods) |
| 40 | Blazer5 Gaming | Dat Boy Shotz (Connor Rodrigues) |
| 41 | Heat Check Gaming | I 24K Dropoff I (Basal Rose) |
| 42 | Magic Gaming | SUPREME PULLER (Bilal Almashni) |
| 43 | Knicks Gaming | YEYNotGaming (Eric Ward) |
| 44 | Bucks Gaming | Procis1on (Jacob Walls) |
| 45 | Raptors Uprising GC | Kobeyusuf (Yusuf Abdulla) |
| 46 | Wizards District Gaming | ReeseDaGod23 (Maurice Delaney) |
| 47 | Pacers Gaming | JordanLocksUp (Tucker Henry) |
| 48 | 76ers GC | I F E A S T (Mihad Feratovic) |
| 49 | Grizz Gaming | ayeTHREAT (Troy Minott II) |
| 50 | Cavs Legion GC | Godddof2k (Marcus Glenn) |
| 51 | Warriors Gaming Squad | LeVert (Jordan Gates) |
Fourth Round
| 52 | Warriors Gaming Squad | Type (Xavier Vescovi) |
| 53 | Cavs Legion GC | iBall x ToXsiK (Brandon Raudenbush) |
| 54 | Grizz Gaming | UniversalPhenom (Antonio Saldivar) |
| 55 | 76ers GC | Steez (Alexander Bernstein) |
| 56 | Pacers Gaming | vGooner- (Jamie Bull) |
| 57 | Wizards District Gaming | Jinsanity (Jin Choe) |
| 58 | Raptors Uprising GC | All Hail Trey (Trevion Hendrix) |
| 59 | Bucks Gaming | XxSTL2LAxX (Mark Hampton Jr.) |
| 60 | Knicks Gaming | iamadamthe1st (Adam Kudeimati) |
| 61 | Magic Gaming | NachoTraynor (Brian Traynor) |
| 62 | Heat Check Gaming | sharpshooterlos (Carlos Zayas-Diaz) |
| 63 | Blazer5 Gaming | Lavish_phenom (Andron Thomas) |
| 64 | Pistons GT | NeNe (Matt Rux) |
| 65 | Kings Guard Gaming | Safiya4ya (Shane Farrar) |
| 66 | Jazz Gaming | Tifeworld (Delano Allsup Jr.) |
| 67 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | Fusion (Alex Snowden) |
| 68 | Mavs Gaming | BallLikeSeem (Waseem Talbert) |
Fifth Round
| 69 | Mavs Gaming | Devillon (Ryan de Villon) |
| 70 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | Speedbrook (Thomas Genaj) |
| 71 | Jazz Gaming | I 24k JSmoove I (Jaishon Scott) |
| 72 | Kings Guard Gaming | cowboyxcollazo (Christian Collazo) |
| 73 | Pistons GT | Im So Far Ahead (Fred Mendoza) |
| 74 | Blazer5 Gaming | GRANT MONSTER (Grant Barker) |
| 75 | Heat Check Gaming | Jalen03303 (Jalen Jones0 |
| 76 | Magic Gaming | marley213s (Jorge Renteria) |
| 77 | Knicks Gaming | Idrisdagoat6 (Idris Richardson) |
| 78 | Bucks Gaming | KinG PeroXide (Matthew Hofmann) |
| 79 | Raptors Uprising GC | TsJosh (Joshua McKenna) |
| 80 | Wizards District Gaming | xGREATxGILLY13 (Isaac Gilton) |
| 81 | Pacers Gaming | FrostytheTruth (George Polk) |
| 82 | 76ers GC | xTFr3sHxX (Tilton Curry) |
| 83 | Grizz Gaming | PHENOM vv (Bono Nikolic) |
| 84 | Cavs Legion GC | TURNUPDEFENSE (Christopher Anderson) |
| 85 | Warriors Gaming Squad | Promeister (Cody Hart) |
Sixth Round
| 86 | Warriors Gaming Squad | EatSleepHoop15 (Wallace Williams III) |
| 87 | Cavs Legion GC | SavageDoWerk (Christopher Tracey) |
| 88 | Grizz Gaming | DDouble2K (Daniel Davis) |
| 89 | 76ers GC | ZDS (Rashann Petty) |
| 90 | Pacers Gaming | The Playa (Samuel Beniaminian) |
| 91 | Wizards District Gaming | Doom (Evan Hinsch) |
| 92 | Raptors Uprising GC | KingQuai614 (Seanquai Harris) |
| 93 | Bucks Gaming | BigBay2k (Jovan Tenner) |
| 94 | Knicks Gaming | xKPMR (Marc Rodriguez) |
| 95 | Magic Gaming | KingCamRoyalty (Cameron Ford) |
| 96 | Heat Check Gaming | HyPeR iS Pro (Rahmel Wilkins) |
| 97 | Blazer5 Gaming | Jomar Varela-Escapa (Jomar12 PR) |
| 98 | Pistons GT | JosephTheTruth (Joseph Marrero) |
| 99 | Kings Guard Gaming | ColeWorld2K (cole Motta) |
| 100 | Jazz Gaming | Stambreezy (Michael Stam) |
| 101 | Celtics Crossover Gaming | PalmOilPlease (Mhabhusah Koffa) |
| 102 | Mavs Gaming | HazzaUK2K (Harry Hurst) |
