You’d think the Orlando Magic’s most significant acquisition this summer would be the No. 1 overall draft of 6-foot-10, 250-pound power forward Paolo Banchero from Duke.
Think again.
The Magic’s biggest addition is another rookie who is just 5ft 10 tall and weighs 150lbs, but is quickly gaining a reputation as the deadliest weapon in the NBA.
His name is Joshua Hunter and he simply goes by the name “Unguardable”.
“In my opinion, Ungerdable may be the best scorer in the entire league right now,” says Magic coach Jonah Edwards.
Bianchi, Idiots, Magic’s head coach is Jamal Mosley and Joshua Hunter is not on the roster! “
Au contraire, mon frère.
The basketball team of the Orlando Magic.
I’m talking about the Orlando Magic gaming team, who just made the playoffs for the first time in team history. And they did so after facilitating the massive four-team trade that brought “Unguardable” to City Beautiful.
Magic fans can only hope that Banchero will soon make an impact and prove to be as unguardable as it is unguardable. Much like Magic Basketball, Magic Gaming were bottom of the league, but a highly talented newcomer came to town and changed the outlook for the entire franchise.
“Unguardable was drafted fifth overall by Portland,” said Edwards, who is also the team’s general manager. “We had a lot of interest in him going into the draft, but he got way too high. Portland was having a tough year, but they had the draft capital and were able to get going.”
If Edwards sounds like he believes he’s a serious general manager talking about a real basketball team, it’s because he is. He receives a full-time salary from Magic and builds and coaches an esports team of video-his gaming geniuses who participate in the NBA 2K League. All 30 teams in the NBA will license, house and pay five esports teams to play his full season of the league’s favorite NBA 2K video game.
“There are five players on the floor and everyone on the team controls one player,” explains Edwards. “One is a point guard, one is a shooting guard and one is a small forward. Each player has a position and a specific skill set. It looks and feels like real basketball. We do plays, we scout other teams, we come up with a game plan, it’s like a real basketball team, except it’s virtual.”
If you’re an old, Fadi-Daddy traditional sports fan like me who hasn’t played a video game since Pac-Man, you don’t get it. It seems to consist of lazy and withdrawn teenagers who spend all their time avoiding and living in virtual reality.
“I recognize criticism and stereotypes,” says Edwards. “(National Sports Radio Host) Colin Cowherd calls us ‘basement booger eaters. But the perception that we eat Cheetos and drink Mountain Dew all day long is completely false. Our peers are living a healthy lifestyle and making real money doing what they love. Isn’t that the goal of life? These aren’t losers living in their mother’s basement. They are successful, hardworking, team-oriented and highly talented in their field. “
One Magic Gamer, Matthew “Matty” Grant, was a stud college basketball player who decided he needed to blow his knees and bring his hoop dreams to life virtually. The Magic gamer is in his 20s, highly motivated, and spends about 60 hours a week perfecting his craft during the offseason. Dwight: If he had this much dedication when Howard was playing Magic, he could have made more than half of his free throws.
Magic gamers will receive $40,000 over five months under their contract and be eligible to compete for an additional $2.5 million in prize money from the NBA. Presumably, a player in his 2K league in the NBA can earn close to six figures, barring the guaranteed contracts often signed by top players in the league.
Of course, the NBA doesn’t fund many video gamers out of kindness. More than any of his four other major sports leagues in the country, the NBA attracts a young, hip crowd. Hence the focus on the explosive gaming audience.
Global tech giant Accenture published a report last year that estimated the gaming industry’s market size is now over $300 billion, “larger than music and movies combined.” There are an estimated 2.7 billion gamers worldwide, and that number is growing exponentially with every sale of his iPhone. Over 2 million gamers play his NBA 2K every day, and nearly 15 million buy the game each year.
“One of the biggest reasons the NBA invested in esports was to reach younger demographics,” says Edwards. “The NBA is trying to take these young gamers and turn them into lifelong basketball fans. Honestly, esports is kind of the future. We stood up and made an investment right away.The NBA treats us as one of four leagues: NBA, WNBA, G League and NBA 2K.”
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