Blazer5 Gaming to Debut at “The Tipoff” Tournament

The inaugural “The Tipoff” tournament is under way in New York City featuring all 17 of the NBA 2K League teams. This is the beginning of NBA-backed professional eSports league’s season on streaming giant Twitch.tv.

The tournament started with opening round pool play beginning on May 1, however Blazer5 Gaming won’t take to the virtual court until Thursday, May 3 at 4 PM ET. This will be the first look the public will have at any of the 2K League teams as they are currently structured and the first impression for traditional sports being presented in the eSports arena.

The motivation for each team, beyond the fact that it’s “their job,” is a piece of the $100,000 prize pool on top of their salary, per the press release from the Trail Blazers and Blazer5 Gaming:

The top eight teams from pool play in the “THE TIPOFF” advance to playoff rounds on May 5. The final four teams will walk away with a piece of the $100,000 prize pool (first place – $35,000; second place – $25,000; third and fourth place – $10,000). The winner of each pool play group will also take home $5,000.

The Blazer5 Gaming squad is loaded with powerhouse NBA 2K players, including top draft pick Dayne (OneWildWalnut) Downey; California – Center; team captain Nidal (Mama Im Dat Man) Nasser; California – Point Guard; Connor (Dat Boy Shotz) Rodrigues; California – Power Forward; Andron (Lavish Phenom) Thomas; New York – Small Forward; Grant (GRANT MONSTER) Barker; California – Shooting Guard; and Jomar Varela (Jomar12 PR) Escapa; Puerto Rico – Center. Cameron McAlees (@noremachi) is Blazer5 Gaming Operations Manager.

If you’re interested in catching Blazer5 Gaming or any other of the 2K League teams, head over to twitch.tv/nba2kleague to check it out.