It looks like basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal has his foot in gaming more than anyone knew. His beat-'em-up reboot of Shaq-Fu isn't the only gaming endeavor that he's involved in. Shaq revealed another big surprise to the gaming community: He's entering into the eSports arena with 2K Games' NBA 2K.
The news was posted on Shaq's official Twitter account, where the NBA legend revealed that he's now the new general manager for the NBA 2K League's Kings Guard.
So, what exactly will a general manager over the team do? Well, Shaq doesn't roll out any details on what the position entails, but there's no way that the team wouldn't benefit from having an actual NBA player overseeing the general direction of the eSports faction.
The Kings Guard unveiled the first training facility and content studio for its team. This will allow the members to get good. The facility features posters of Steve Jobs on the wall, ultra violet lighting, a lounging area, and various televisions and hubs for where the team can practice their skills. There's also a row of computers along a conference table where team members can practice.
The Sacramento-based outfit followed up the tweet of Shaq joining as general manager by also announcing that the state of the art training facility will also feature full-service broadcasting capabilities, along with hosting areas, and the ability to live-stream seamlessly.
According to The Post Game, the Sacramento Kings Guard is one of 17 NBA-owned teams that will be part of the inaugural NBA 2K League Draft, which will begin filling up their player rosters on Wednesday.
The article explains that Shaquille O'Neal's exact role as general manager will be to provide counsel and general support for the team's assembled roster, as well as monitor and provide feedback on the 102 players who will be participating in the upcoming draft.
The Sacramento Kings Guard will have fourth pick during the draft, but Post Game isn't sure how much say O'Neal will have with the final picks for assembling the team.
This is yet another step by major franchise leagues to get in on the eSports craze. Blizzard had major leagues and corporations buy into the inaugural Overwatch League, attempting to show that there is big money in eSports.
It remains to be seen if the Overwatch League is a success or not, but that isn't stopping 2K Games and the NBA from taking a chance with the NBA 2K series and looking to establish a growing electronic community around the digital sport based on the real-life league. One certainly has to question if there will be marketing crossover between the two or if the NBA will keep things separate. I suppose time will tell. For now we definitely know that Shaquille O'Neal is on board with the NBA 2K League.
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