New York (AFP) - The NBA is teaming up with Take Two Interactive to launch a professional video game league based on the game publisher's NBA 2K series.
The new eSports league will be the biggest collaboration to date between traditional and digital sports, with components mimicking the actual NBA such as a player combine, draft, regular-season games and playoffs starting in 2018.
The founding teams will be composed of five professional eSports players who will compete as user-created avatars, with the teams backed and operated by actual NBA clubs.
"We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing eSports community," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.