NBA 2K League, Heat Check Gaming return amid COVID-19. What the curious fan needs to know
In a lot of ways, Heat Check Gaming operates like the Miami Heat. There is, of course, the obvious connection — Heat Check operates as part of the Miami organization, competing in as the Heat’s representative in the NBA 2K League — and there are more subtle ones.
In the offseason, Derric Franklin, better known as “FamousEnough,” wasn’t satisfied with the roster he had in place for the 2019 season, when Heat Check missed the postseason, so the general manager did his best Pat Riley impression, wheeling and dealing until he had the bones of a new contender in place. Four of Heat Check’s five starters for 2020 weren’t on the team in 2019.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Franklin said with a laugh when asked whether he took some inspiration from the organization’s president.
After reaching the championship game in the 2K League’s inaugural season in 2018, Franklin’s goal now is to get Heat Check back to prominence in a potentially pivotal season for the league. Heat Check opens its third season Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Pacers Gaming, the Indiana Pacers’ team, and they’re still the only basketball show in town — real-life or otherwise — because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The game will even be streamed on ESPN.com with some matches throughout May televised on ESPN2.
The NBA remains on hiatus indefinitely because of the coronavirus. The NCAA abruptly ended college basketball season because of the outbreak. Professional basketball leagues across the world are struggling to formulate plans to return to action with the virus still spread. The 2K League’s virtual competition in “NBA 2K20” is right now the only substitute basketball-thirsty fans can find.
“There’s clearly a void right now in terms of traditional sports and so I think it’s creating this incredible opportunity for esports to take more of the stage,” 2K League commissioner Brendan Donohue said. “I 100-percent believe whether it’s basketball fans, or sports fans or casual sports fans, all of a sudden they’re going to be able to see more of the 2K League, so it’s going to be a unique opportunity for us to get exposure to new fans.”
What is NBA 2K League?
When the NBA 2K League (NBA2KL) began in 2018, it was one of the most unorthodox esports leagues in the world because of its orthodoxy in the vein of traditional sports. The league had a draft partially televised on NBATV and players had to be 18 in order to enter. There was a tournament ahead of the draft — sort of a makeshift combine — so teams strewn across the country would know who they wanted to pick. In the inaugural season, 17 teams competed as part of NBA parents with players all based out of their home cities with access to team facilities.
Now 22 NBA organizations — and one Asian esports organization — have teams competing in the NBA2KL.
“[NBA] 2K has become the biggest sports game in North America — the second biggest globally — and it just keeps growing and growing,” Donohue said, “so we had this great game and we had owners in the NBA more bullish on esports broadly, so those two things came together and it’s working out great.”
While other esports leagues like the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League have taken cues from traditional sports with teams based in individual cities or states, the NBA2KL is the only league with explicit ties to an already established traditional sports league. The NBA and Take Two Interactive, the holding company whose portfolio includes the NBA 2K series, split ownership of the league 50-50.
“When you talk about a new esport, a niche esport, you want to have some type of backing, so we have the NBA’s backing and we obviously have the Miami Heat’s backing,” Franklin said. “It gives us just that little bit of push that teams may need to help with branding and sponsorship opportunities ahead.”
NBA2KL teams don’t, however, use their NBA counterpart in the games. Instead, each of the five players chooses one of five predetermined archetypes for their respective position. Each archetype sets players’ overall ratings to 90, so individual gamer skill is, theoretically, all that matters.
The actual game build is different, too. The NBA2KL doesn’t play on the retail version of “NBA 2K20.” Instead, 2K develops a custom version of the game with a difficulty setting not usually accessible, so the game isn’t too easy for the professionals. The NBA2KL season was actually delayed from its scheduled March start as 2K had to modify the league build to be compatible with online play.
What is Heat Check Gaming?
Heat Check’s six players all live in the same apartment building in Coral Gables and the team has another space rented out in the same building where players gather for practice. For at least the first six weeks of the 2020 season, the extra space will also be where Heat Check plays its game as the NBA2KL pivots to remote play.
In the inaugural 2018 season, the NBA2KL played all its games at the NBA 2K League Studio in New York. In the second season, the league still mostly played in New York, but also held tournaments in Winter Park and Las Vegas, Nevada. This season, the NBA2KL planned to start having events in home cities, although the virus has left those plans in flux.
Heat Check has a distinct Miami connection in a way not every team does to its home city. Heat Check had the seventh pick in the inaugural draft and most of the point guards, NBA 2K’s most valuable position, were off the board, so Franklin pivoted and went with a center at No. 7. Juan Gonzalez, a Miami native better known as “Hotshot,” has been Heat Check’s franchise player since Day 1.
“That was one of the biggest things for me when I built the team from the beginning that I had to have that guy on this team,” Franklin said. “When you have new players coming in just about every year, you do want to have them all get familiar with the lay of the land, so with having him here living here his entire life and being a Miami Heat fan, being a Dolphins fan, being a Marlins fan, he’s able to show the guys around.”
