It is an exciting time if you are a player of NBA 2K21 in the United States and the United Kingdom at the moment because, in both countries, processes are underway to identify a team of potential star players that can represent each nation at a forthcoming major global basketball esports tournament.
Organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the FIBA Esports Open II will be contested by 38 national teams from around the world who will each play in one of seven different conferences against teams in their geographical region.
The tournament will take place between in December 2020 and due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it will be an online tournament played on NBA2K21 using the Pro-AM game mode. The tournament will be streamed live on FIBA’s Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook channels for viewers to tune in and enjoy.
Who Made The United States NBA2k National Team?
USA Basketball NBA 2K tryouts for the US team were held on the 7th and 8th of November.
A total of 30 players were invited to try out for one of seven places on the roster, five for the team, and two reserves.
Invited players included 23 male and 7 female players. Selections were made by a panel that included 2K League community Ambassador Graham Borden as well as Washington Mystics WNBA professional Aerial Powers.
The US Basketball E-National team will face off against teams from Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, and Puerto Rico to earn the right to progress into the playoffs as the winner from the North and Central American conference with the games taking place on the 19th and 20th December 2020.
“USA Basketball is excited to take its first step in becoming a part of the gaming community and the FIBA Esports Open,” stated USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley.
“The gaming world has seen rapid growth, evidenced by the large number of gamers and fans involved, and the timing and opportunities makes sense for USA Basketball to add an e-national team to compete in future international FIBA competitions.”
What About The GB Team?
The great news for the potential Team GB players is that the British Esports Association has joined forces with the British Basketball Federation to collaborate on selecting and then subsequently managing the team of British players to compete in the same FIBA Esports Open II event as the United States team outlined above.
The British team already has its captain in the form of Harry “HazzaUK” Hurst, who is a professional NBA 2K star for the Knicks Gaming team.
The British Esports Association will work with the British Basketball Federation to identify the remaining members of the Team GB squad that will compete in the tournament.
Team GB will compete in the Europe conference which will be the second conference to play its games on the 12th December. The African, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Oceania conferences begin on 14th November, with the South American conference starting the same time as the North and Central American Conference on the 19th December.
