NEW YORK, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The NBA 2K League Draft 2019 kicked off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday afternoon with Spencer Wyman, gamer tag Ria, being selected by Jazz Gaming as No. 1 overall.
The NBA 2K League, a professional e-sports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., launched in 2018 with 17 teams comprising all American players. Knicks Gaming won the first-ever finals on Aug. 25, 2018.
This year, the teams have increased to 21, and each of them features six players who compete as unique characters in 5-on-5 play against the other teams in a mix of regular-season games, in-season tournaments and playoffs.
This year's draft pool includes 22 international players from nine countries outside the United State - Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain and Britain.
The 198 draft-eligible players consist of 144 new players who were selected by the league following an extensive tryout process, six players from the league's first-ever APAC Invitational that took place in Hong Kong in early February, and 48 unretained players from the inaugural season.
As 126 players will compete in the NBA 2K League's second season set to start on April 2, and 52 players from the inaugural season had been retained or selected in the Expansion Draft, 74 roster spots were available for Tuesday's draft.
However, the 74 picks changed to 75 ahead of the draft as TimelyCook was removed from the 2019 season due to a violation of the code of conduct. So that gave his team Kings Squad Gaming an extra pick in the third round.
By winning the lottery, Jazz Gaming had the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA 2K League Draft and made a big move to solidify its last season's roster by adding Ria.
Ria said he's been quite busy with the media circuit already since becoming No. 1 pick.
When asked about what position he'll play for Jazz Gaming, a team that didn't make the playoffs last season, he said,"I'm gonna start off at the five and then from there, whatever works. We're gonna be strong, I'll guarantee that."
The NBA 2K League will award 1.2 million U.S. dollars in prize money throughout the 2019 season.
