Blazer5 Gaming Picks Roster of Players During Historic Draft for Inaugural NBA2K League Season

PORTLAND, Ore. and NEW YORK (April 4, 2018) – Armed with the sixth overall pick in the first-ever NBA 2K League Draft, Blazer5 Gaming was among 17 esports franchises making history today in building rosters for the inaugural season. Cameron McAlees (@noremachi), Operations Manager for Blazer5 Gaming, used his first-round pick to select Dayne (OneWildWalnut) Downey from California at the center position.

By the end of today’s draft at Madison Square Garden in New York, six professional gamers had been chosen to make Portland their new home in preparation for the NBA 2K League season beginning in May. McAlees and recently-hired team Talent & Logistics manager Chase Geddes (@chasegeddes) planned the Blazer5 Gaming draft strategy and selections.

“We’re extremely excited to be welcoming these players to Portland,” said McAlees about Blazer5 Gaming’s first-ever draft selections. “Between myself, Chase, and the Trail Blazers organization, we look forward to fully supporting our team in the pursuit of the championship. It has been an incredible experience witnessing the build-out of this league, and we can’t wait to see regular season play tip-off in May!”

Here is a round-by-round listing of NBA 2K League athletes drafted and their on-court position for Blazer5 Gaming:

 

1. Dayne (OneWildWalnut) Downey; California – Center (6^th overall pick)
2. Nidal (Mama Im Dat Man) Nasser; California – Point Guard (29^th overall pick)
3. Connor (Dat Boy Shotz) Rodrigues; California – Power Forward (40^th overall pick)
4. Andron (Lavish_Phenom) Thomas; New York – Small Forward (63^rd overall pick)
5. Grant (GRANT MONSTER) Barker; California – Shooting Guard (74^th overall pick)
6. Jomar Varela (Jomar12 PR) Escapa; Puerto Rico – Center (97^th overall pick)

 

All NBA 2K League games will be played at a soon-to-be-announced central studio location. As partners of the NBA 2K League, Dell and Intel will deliver end-to-end solutions for an unmatched esports experience. NBA 2K League games will be played on Alienware PCs powered by Intel’s best gaming processor, the 8^th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8700K Processor accompanied by Alienware’s 25” 240 Hz gaming monitors. All players will have the flexibility to use the game controller of their preference.

The inaugural season will include weekly matchups, three in-season tournaments, playoffs and the NBA 2K League Finals to determine a champion. Fans can connect with Blazer5 Gaming content, information, announcements and other special promotions at www.blazer5gaming.com; and by following the team @blazer5gaming on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  

The NBA 2K League is a professional esports league featuring the best 2K players in the world. The pool of 102 gamers eligible for today’s draft were determined by a league qualifying stage in January and an intense combine series in February. Teams participating in the draft selected a six-player roster that will compete using unique avatars based on their individual skills at the on-court positions in the NBA 2K video game – point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center.

 

ABOUT THE NBA 2K LEAGUE

The NBA 2K League is a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO). Launching in 2018, the league will feature the best 102 NBA 2K players in the world. Each of the league’s 17 teams will draft six players to compete as unique characters in 5-on-5 play against the other teams in a mix of regular-season games, tournaments and playoffs. The league hosted tryouts in early 2018 before the draft in April and the season tip-off in May. For more information about the NBA 2K League, visit www.NBA2KLeague.com.