Grizz Gaming drafts inaugural class

I played soccer at a small college, I wasn’t the best but definitely not the worst. My career ended with an ACL tear and it took me a long time before I played again, even in a local mens league. I always thought to myself that I might try out for a local minor league team, maybe a USL team, but I never really wanted to go through that adventure again.

I thought, how crazy it would be if I actually did make one of those teams? Would I just quit my day job, move to whatever city and start playing soccer again on minor level? I never could quite grasp that sudden change if it were to happen, but that is just what 102 players that entered the NBA 2K League draft did. They all got drafted to cities that they will move to, quit jobs, put schools on hold, bring families with them, all to fill a dream they have, playing eSports for as a career.

The Grizz Gaming team selected six guys to fill the spots, their first pick was the 15th overall pick and then they had a snake style draft for the rest of the five rounds. The teams were required to select a player at each position with the first five picks, and with the last selection they could select any position they feel fit the need for their respective teams.

I will write longer pieces on all of these guys so that you can get to know them and welcome them to Memphis, BUT for now let’s see who the Grizzlies selected.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Point Guard

Larell Mitchell, Virginia

Gamer Tag: Winner_Stayz_On

Twitter: @Winner_Stayz_On

Stats: 18 PPG, 16 APG, and 3 SPG

Odds and Ends: Larell is a natural born leader and understands what being a first round picks means to this team.

Shooting Guard

Troy Minott II, Florida

Gamer Tag: AyeTHREAT

Twitter: @uHThreaT

Stats: 27.3 PPG, 5 APG, 53% from 3

Small Forward

Antonio Saldivar, Arizona

Gamer Tag: Universal Phenom

Twitter: @UniversalPhe2K

Stats: 24 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 5.3 APT

Odds and Ends: Antonio won two state championships in football, lives and breathes sports, and loves to give back to his community.

Power Forward

Bono Nikolic, Illinois

Gamer Tag: PHENOM vv

Twitter: @BonoNikolic

Center

Mehyar Ahmed-Hassan, Ontario, Canada

Gamer Tag: AuthenticAfrican

Twitter: @AuthenticAfr

Sixth Man

Daniel Davis, Maryland

Gamer Tag: DDouble2K

Twitter: @DDouble2K

After the draft was over the Grizz Gaming team felt great about the picks that they made, they felt like some of the players that they were able to draft late even though they had them higher on their draft boards. Lang Whitaker, GM of the Grizz Gaming, told me that he got every player that he wanted and every player that he projected as a high level draft pick. They players will be moving to the city in the next week or so to get starting on Grizz Gaming training camp, so go gives these guys a follow and welcome them to the city of Memphis.

Watch the full press conference with GM of the Grizz Gaming team Lang Whitaker:

Follow @sbngrizzlies