Monday wasKory Taylor's day offwork as a security guard for Fiat Chrysler,and the emergingesports star wasdown in his basement in front of his Playstation 4 and widescreen TV,loggingmore hours of practicefor what hehopes will behisbreakout career move next month.
Taylor, 21, who lives with his family on Detroit's east side, is a possiblefirst-roundpick for theNBA 2K League's draft, set for Feb. 22 in New York City.
If chosen by one of the 23 teams, Taylor would receive a $37,000 to $33,000 —depending on whether he is a first-round or later-round pick—six-month salary, health insuranceandfree housing inoneof theteam's home city, where he would haveto move.His potential earnings could later soar if his futureteam wins tournaments or the league championship.He also would be eligible to signendorsement deals.
Taylor, who plays point guardin the popularmultiplayer video game NBA 2K20,saidthe draft stillfeels too far away for him to havethe jitters.
He sat down to playMonday afternoon on acream-coloredcouch,across froman ironing board and an oldtreadmill. Curtains blocked all sunlightfrom the basement's small windows.
"I don't think I'm going to be nervous until the draft day," said Taylor, a 2016 graduate of Detroit Edison Public School Academy. "I still feel confident."
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He is among the smallbut growing number of video gamers—nearly all of them young men in their 20s—who have a real shotat turning their hobby into a payingesports career.The professionalNBA 2K Leagueis still relatively new and entering only its third season.
“You go from just competing and playing NBA 2Kwith yourbuddies to basically a profession— this is a huge moment for a lot of these athletes,"said Mike Donnay, a vice president with the Detroit Pistonswho oversees the team's NBA 2K League franchise team,the Pistons GT.
Many colleges nationwide areadding esportsand several metro Detroit high schools alreadyhave or are developing teams.
Started in 2018, NBA 2K Leagueisa joint venture between the National Basketball Association andTake-Two Interactive, the companythat owns the top-selling NBA 2K video game series. It is thefirst official video game league operated by a U.S. professional sports league.
One goal of the league istoexpand theNBA's fan base.
The league has grown to23 teams and there are six players on each team's rooster. Players compete 5-on-5 using unique game characters—not actual NBA players. Teamstravel for most competitions to the league's studioin New York.Last year'sseasonbegan in April and ranfor 18 weeks.
A total 126 players competed in the season, according to the league, and all of themwereatleast 18 and hadgraduated high school.
The general public can watch livestreamsof the league's gameson the websites Twitch.tv as well as YouTube. Twitch says it gets 15 million average daily viewers. The number of NBA 2K viewers was not available.
Pistons GT is not affiliated with the Detroit Renegades, a professional esports team that competes in various different video games.
Started with Madden
Taylorsaid he has been playingvideo games since he was 15,but onlystarted withthe NBA 2K series about two years ago after previously focusing on Madden NFL.
He sharpened his skillsin theWR Pro Am League, which is an amateurleague for NBA 2K play. Taylor uses an ordinary Playstation controller — no special modifications — and often plays under the screen name BLKMANSCHESS.
His big breakthrough happened last October when, while playing from his basement,he won a major tournament put on by the Hornets Venom GT team.Thatvictory gave him draft pool eligibility.
Playersalso can qualify for the draft by performing well in a series of challenging games known asthe combine.
“If I didn't win (the Hornets' tournament),I would have had to play the combine," Taylor said.“There are a couple guys from Detroit who didn’t get inbecause they didn’t make it past the combine.”
There were 198 draft-eligible players in the 2019draft, including the first female player.
In next month's draft, there are a tentative 68 spots to fill.
Family affair
Ron Taylor said Kory is the youngest of his three sonsand that theirfirst video game was Madden NFL, which he used to play for fun.
He saidhe didn't realizehow good Kory was at NBA 2K until he watched him qualify for the draft duringlast fall'sHornet's tournament.Thatalso was when he learned thatpeoplecan earn a living as a professional video game player.
“I just thinkthis is a great opportunity," Ron Taylor said."I can imagine there are probablymillions of kids trying to do thisand for him to get chosen waspretty cool.”
Communal living
The league's players are paid as NBA employees and they mustrelocate to their team'scityfor the season andlivewithteammates.
Pistons GT's players stayedtogether in a large house during the league's firstseason. Last year, team memberswere paired up and lived in the same Detroit apartment complex,Donnay said, an arrangement that will probably continue this year. The players also get access to the team's Jeep Wrangler vehicles.
The Pistons GT practicefive days a week insidethe Detroit Piston's new headquarters and training center in Midtown Detroit. They then fly to New York for the weekly competitions.
ContactJC Reindl at313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.
