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NBA 2K eLeague Release Date News: First eSports Basketball League to Launch in 2018

By Georgia Gana, Christian Post Contributor

Being drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming an All-Star player and winning a championship title continue to be unattainable pipe dreams for many but the professional basketball league's recent venture with Take-Two Interactive Software could mean that skilled gamers will be one step closer to attaining these accomplishments — albeit in the virtual world. The NBA and Take-Two have announced that they will be launching NBA 2K eLeague, a professional competitive gaming league that will debut in 2018.

"We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community. We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports team operators with Take-Two's competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience," said NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

This will be the first eSports league that will be operated by the actual NBA franchises. It will also follow the standard professional sports league format. In terms of mechanics, there will be 30 NBA 2K teams and each squad will have five players that will compete head-to-head like in a regular season with a bracketed playoff system and a championship matchup.

Unlike what "NBA 2K" players have been accustomed to, the eLeague will not feature real NBA stars. Instead, the competitors will have to create their own avatars based on their preferred specifications.

The NBA and Take-Two have been in partnership since 1999 as the video game distributor's subsidiary, 2K Sports, is responsible for yearly installments of the "NBA 2K" franchise. Given the NBA 2K eLeague's touted release window, it is expected that the upcoming "NBA 2K18" will be the specific game that will be used and as such, it will be developed to address the league's anticipated needs.

According to ESPN, the new competitive gaming league has live events that fans can attend. Each team will have their own merchandise and sponsors, and licensing rights will also be negotiated for broadcasting the matches.

More details will be announced in the months leading up to the NBA 2K eLeague's launch.

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