Esports and traditional sports will collide Saturday as the Chicago Huntsmen Call of Duty League franchise will face off against a team of NBA All-Stars in a Pros vs. Pros match to coincide with NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
eSports Rumors
While the NBA players to compete haven’t been announced, they could include Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as the Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid — all of whom are known to be esports fans. NBA 2k19 cover star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks also could take part.
Jeff Eisenband: “The big misconception is this notion traditional sports leagues may be trying #esports as a marketing tool for their main sport…Talking to Adam Silver and Strauss Zelnick, this is a stand-alone league.” -@2KLeagueMD on @ESPN_Esports 🏀🎮 @NBA2KLeague youtube.com/watch?v=XjC0mc…
Former NBA player and embattled esports franchise owner Rick Fox filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles County court Tuesday, accusing his business partners with the esports franchise Echo Fox of multiple instances of fraud and seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit comes as those same partners are attempting to remove Fox from the video gaming franchise he founded.
The civil suit by Fox follows legal action in August from one of his partners, former San Jose Sharks co-owner and VeriSign CEO Stratton Sclavos, who failed in his attempt to get a temporary restraining order issued against Fox. In that attempt, Sclavos and other signatories affiliated with Echo Fox accused the former Celtic and Laker of “willful, wanton, and intentionally destructive efforts toward the Partnership,” according to that complaint.
In a marriage of traditional sports and esports, Utah Jazz basketball star Rudy Gobert has invested in ReKTGlobal, a global esports group and parent of the esports club Rogue.
Gobert, the NBA’s two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year and current center for the team, is joining a hefty ownership team. Gobert will join alongside existing investors including DJ stars Steve Aoki and DJ Nicky Romero, the Billboard Award-winning Imagine Dragons, and renowned Latin music producer Tainy. That’s a pretty good bunch of celebrities who probably know something the rest of us don’t.
