With the actual NBA completely suspended, one team has opted to keep the season going – by playing NBA 2K20 instead.
Following the league’s suspension after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus, the league now has hundreds of players sitting around in self-isolation. So partially as a move to keep everyone sane and entertained, the Phoenix Suns announced that they would play out the rest of their regular league matches – by playing them through the NBA 2K20 video game.
“With the sports world screeching to a pause, the Phoenix Suns will give fans a virtual fix as the first NBA team to continue the 2019-20 season on NBA 2K20,” the club announced.
“While we await the return to the hardwood, hoops fans are encouraged to tune in to Suns games on Twitch, beginning with tonight’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.”
The Suns’ Twitch account only is pretty new, with only a few thousand followers and a couple of broadcasts. It’s a clever move, though. Professional athletes are some of the biggest gamers, with the amount of downtime they have between practices, and this offers a way for teams and players to stay connected with fans until the world tries to get a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBA commissioner has left the door open for the regular season to resume in 30 days. But given that Gobert’s positive test resulted in the immediate suspension or cancellation of the NHL, baseball, professional tennis, Champions League, Major League Soccer and all NCAA sports within 24 hours, it’s probably likely that more athletes and teams will turn to Twitch and livestreaming.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/03/nba-player-finds-out-season-suspended-while-playing-on-twitch/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/dxrcf6jyvtpbjjwpr0bv.jpg” title=”NBA Player Finds Out Season Suspended While Playing On Twitch” excerpt=”Phoenix Suns all-star Devin Booker is pretty much every basketball fan tonight, with his “what the fuuuuuuuuuuck is goin on, bro” response to news the NBA’s season has been suspended.”]
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/03/coronavirus-has-broken-some-of-nba-2k20s-simulation/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/p4moo4miivl289okdpdv.jpg” title=”Coronavirus Has Broken Some Of NBA 2K20’s Simulation” excerpt=”The entire NBA season has been suspended until further notice, in a move that’s so unprecedented that NBA 2K20 just doesn’t know how to handle it.”]
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