In an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, the NBA has created an online video game league. Seventeen teams are represented in the NBA 2k league including a Portland representative, also known as Blazer5 Gaming.
The league kicked off on April 5 with the inaugural NBA 2K league draft. According to Forbes, Blazer5 Gaming selected players worthy of an A+ draft grade.
The team held the sixth overall pick, selecting center Dayne Downey (gamertag: OneWildWalnut) out of California first.
The remaining selections for Blazer5 Gaming were:
- Point guard Nidal Nasser (Mama Im Dat Man) out of California 29th overall
- Power forward Connor Rodrigues (Dat Boy Shotz) out of California 40th overall
- Small forward Andron Thomas (Lavish_phenom) out of California 63rd overall
- Shooting guard Grant Barker (GRANT MONSTER) out of California 74th overall
- Center Jomar Varela-Escapa (Jomar12 PR) out of Puerto Rico 97th overall.