Veteran NBA exec BRENDAN DONOHUE has been hired as Managing Dir of the newly formed NBA 2K esports league expected to launch next year. Donahue joined the NBA in '09 and was Senior VP/Team Marketing & Business Operations prior to his new job, which he begins effective immediately. Before joining the league office, Donohue worked for the Hawks. He will run the day-to-day operations and strategy of the new esports league, which is a joint venture between the NBA and game publisher Take-Two Interactive. Donohue will report to a board consisting of NBA and Take-Two execs. Board membership has not been finalized. “I’ve been interested in this space for quite a while,” Donohue said. “It is being able to use what I have been doing on the team side and combine it in a new, explosive space.” More than half of the NBA's 30 teams are expected to be involved in the esports league when it launches. “In the next few weeks we will announce the teams,” he said. “We are working to build out the staff right now.” Donohue’s replacement within the NBA TMBO division has not yet been named.
