Before explaining how—alongside a self-help author, a Hall-of-Fame hoopster, and the co-owner of the Golden State Warriors—he came to buy controlling interest in a professional e-sports franchise, Ted Leonsis laughs. “You’re going to have fun with this,” the Wizards and Capitals owner says. He is not wrong. The origin story is super silly.
On a Friday morning last February in Toronto, at a tech conference scheduled around the NBA’s All-Star Game, Leonsis walked into a hotel ballroom next to Peter Guber, the CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group who co-owns the Warriors, Dodgers, and Galaxy.