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2020-12-01 10:05:16

-Posted by Daniel Mogollon, Staff Writer; Image: NBA 2K League. (Image Source: NBA2K LEAGUE)

NEW YORK – The NBA 2K League announced today the league’s first-ever “NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h,” a three-part online tournament beginning Friday, Dec. 4 featuring NBA G League Ignite players, social media influencers and fan-organized teams, competing alongside and against NBA 2K League players for a share of a $35,000 prize pool.  The NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h will be livestreamed on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels.  Registration for the fan bracket begins this week at NBA2KLeague.com*.

“Coming off our most-watched season to date, we’re excited to continue our positive momentum by engaging with NBA G League Ignite players, fans and influencers through offseason events like the NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h,” said NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue.  “This unique event will bring together some of the most recognizable personalities from the NBA 2K League, the 2K community and beyond to showcase their skills in a variety of game modes on NBA 2K21.”

In the three tournament stages, teams comprised of influencers, NBA G League Ignite players and NBA 2K League players will accumulate points for two designated captain duos consisting of Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd (Mavs Gaming), Dayvon “G O O F Y 7 5 7” Curry (Blazer5 Gaming) and two influencers to be announced in the coming days.  On Wednesday, Dec. 2, “BFW Live Presented by Bud Light” on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch channel will feature a special NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h episode, where each captain duo will draft three NBA 2K League players and three additional influencers or NBA G League Ignite players who will earn points for the duo for the duration of the tournament.  At the conclusion of the tournament, the influencer captain belonging to the captain duo whose drafted players have earned the most points will receive $7,000, with the runner-up influencer captain receiving $5,000.

The first stage tips off Friday, Dec. 4 with a 5-on-5 NBA 2K21 Pro-Am match.  Teams will include a captain duo, influencers and NBA G League Ignite players.

The second stage will begin on Monday, Dec. 7 – Tuesday, Dec. 8 and will feature eight fan-organized teams in each of two distinct console brackets, competing against each other in 2-on-2 competition on NBA 2K21’s MyPark game mode.  The winning and runner-up teams from each fan bracket will advance to eight-team main brackets played on their respective consoles on Friday, Dec. 11, where they’ll compete against teams made up of NBA G League Ignite players, NBA 2K League players and influencers.

The third and final stage will take place Friday, Dec. 18 and will be a 5-on-5 NBA 2K21 Pro-Am match.  Each team will feature a captain duo and three NBA 2K League players.

All games in each stage of the NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h will be played in a best-of-three format.

Below please find a current list of NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h participants.  A full list of participants and the complete game schedule will be announced in the coming days.

• AnnoyingTV – Influencer and content creator with over 519K subscribers on YouTube and 8K subscribers on Twitch
• Alexander “Steez” Bernstein (76ers GC) –The former financial advisor helped lead 76ers GC to the 2019 NBA 2K League Finals
• Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd (Mavs Gaming) –The No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural NBA 2K League Draft averaged 15.6 ppg and 3.4 apg at shooting guard during the 2020 season
• DeMar “Deedz” Butler (Heat Check Gaming) – The former U.S. Navy member was selected by Jazz Gaming in the inaugural NBA 2K League Draft
• Dayvon “G O O F Y 7 5 7” Curry (Blazer5 Gaming) – The 2018 NBA 2K League Champion with Knicks Gaming averaged a double-double (11.7 ppg, 12.7 rpg) with Grizz Gaming during the 2020 season
• Cody Demps (NBA G League Ignite) – Appeared in 40 games for the Stockton Kings during the 2019-20 NBA G League season and averaged 14.4 ppg along with 5.4 rpg
• Dominus – Influencer and NBA 2K content creator with 272K subscribers on YouTube
• Brendan “Reizey” Hill (Magic Gaming) – The point guard was named 2019 NBA 2K League Rookie of the Year
• IpodKingCarter – Influencer and NBA 2K content creator with 646K subscribers on YouTube; also streams on Facebook Gaming
• ItsPikaaa – Influencer with 293K followers on TikTok
• Jonathan Kuminga (NBA G League Ignite) – Ranked the No. 4 high-school player in the 2020 ESPN 100 and the top player in New Jersey in the Class of 2020
• William “Strainer” Morales (Cavs Legion GC) – Shooting guard who averaged 21.7 ppg and 4.1 apg during the 2020 season
• Sten “SAV” Valge-Saar (Lakers Gaming) – The Canada native was named a finalist for 2020 NBA 2K League Rookie of the Year Delivered by Panera Bread after averaging 32.9 ppg and 8.7 apg
• Justin “Sherm” Sherman (Hornets Venom GT) – Point guard who averaged 22.6 ppg and 5.3 apg with Mavs Gaming during the 2020 season
• StaxMontana– Influencer and NBA 2K content creator with 36K subscribers on YouTube
• TyTheGuy – Hip hop recording artist, influencer and content creator with 494K YouTube subscribers

The NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h has a total prize pool of $35,000.  Below please find the prizing breakdown:

• $16,000 available in the tournament’s second stage in the main brackets ($5,000, $2,000 and $500 awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd/4th place, respectively on each console)
• $12,000 available to the influencer captains based on points accumulated throughout the three stages ($7,000 and $5,000 awarded to the winning and runner-up influencer captains, respectively)
• $5,000 awarded to the winning team of the 5v5 Pro-Am influencer game
• $1,000 awarded to the winners of each fan bracket in the tournament’s second stage

For more information, fans can follow the NBA 2K League on Twitter (NBA2KLeague), Instagram (nba2kleague), Facebook (NBA 2K League), Twitch (NBA2KLeague) and YouTube (NBA 2K League) and visit NBA2KLeague.com.

*Fan participation in the NBA 2K League Winter Cla$h subject to Official Rules.  Not all fans who sign up will get to participate.