NBA 2K esports league Managing Dir Brendan Donohue recently "shed some light on the venture" since many people "don’t have much of a clue of what it is all about, or why esports is so popular," according to Ryan Wolstat of the TORONTO SUN. Donohue said, "It’s 5-on-5. Oftentimes, people are used to seeing video games being played 1-on-1. This actually is going to be five human beings playing five other human beings, controlling every player on the virtual court. So there will be no artificial intelligence whatsoever." The players for the new NBA 2K esports league "will come from all over." Donohue: "Our goal, to make this the best league possible, is to find the best 85 players on the planet. They can be anywhere in the world, they can be male, they can be female, we just want the best 85 players." Players will be "paid by their respective teams." Tryouts will start around Feb. 1, 2018, with a "draft to follow in mid-March." The season will "run from May 1 and go for 15 weeks, before concluding with two weeks of playoffs ending the third week of August." When most people picture esports they think "teenagers and people in their early-20s playing video games." Donohue said that NBA 2K players "don’t really fit that description." He said, "We actually don’t skew that young. So, 58% of our player are actually over 25, so we skew a little older. I think there are some myths about our players in general. They’re actually more likely to be educated, more likely to have a higher income." Donohue said, "I would expect other leagues to follow our lead and to get involved in this. I would expect that to happen, I think it’s great for esports" (TORONTO SUN, 9/19).
