2018 NBA 2K League season


The 2018 NBA 2K League season was the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League, an esports league based on the basketball video game series NBA 2K. The season opened with the Tip-Off Tournament, which ran from May 1–5, 2018, where 76ers GC defeated Blazer5 Gaming. The season culminated on August 25, 2018, when Knicks Gaming defeated Heat Check Gaming in a best-of-three finals to become the first playoff champions in league history. Other tournaments included The Turn and The Ticket.

Qualifying

For the inaugural season, the qualifying stage was open to anyone who was 18+ years old and owned NBA 2K18 on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. To qualify, players had to win 50 games in NBA 2K18's Pro-Am mode and submit an application following this requirement between January 1–31, 2018. Following that, the players who qualified participated in a combine that ran from February 2–21, 2018. The top 102 players out of the 72,000 who qualified were then drafted on April 4.

Teams

On December 11, 2017, the official logo for the NBA 2K League was revealed, with the logos for each of the 17 teams being revealed over the course of the following days.
TeamNBA Team Owner
76ers GCPhiladelphia 76ers
Blazer5 GamingPortland Trail Blazers
Bucks GamingMilwaukee Bucks
Cavs Legion GCCleveland Cavaliers
Celtics Crossover GamingBoston Celtics
Grizz GamingMemphis Grizzlies
Heat Check GamingMiami Heat
Jazz GamingUtah Jazz
Kings Guard GamingSacramento Kings
Knicks GamingNew York Knicks
Magic GamingOrlando Magic
Mavs GamingDallas Mavericks
Pacers GamingIndiana Pacers
Pistons GTDetroit Pistons
Raptors Uprising GCToronto Raptors
Warriors Gaming SquadGolden State Warriors
Wizards District GamingWashington Wizards

Inaugural draft

On April 4, 2018, the inaugural draft took place and was broadcast on NBA TV and Twitch. The draft used a snake draft format with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announcing the first pick, NBA 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue announcing the rest of the picks. The draft took place in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. For the first five rounds, each team was required to choose one player at each position, and in the sixth round team were allowed to choose any remaining player, regardless of their position.

Draft lottery

A non-weighted lottery took place on March 13, 2018 to determine the order of the draft.

Draft results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Draft Clash

On April 6, 10 draftees representing all six rounds took part in three six minute quarter exhibition games at PAX East 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. Before each game, teams were randomized. The participating players were:

Standings

Regular Season

  1. Win-Loss Record
  2. Head to Head Matchup
  3. Average Point Differential
  4. Total Points Scored
  5. Coin Flip
PlaceTeamWLPCTGBGP
1Blazer5 Gamingx122–14
276ers GCx104214
3Pistons GTx95314
4Raptors Uprising GCx86414
5Cavs Legion GCx86414
6Heat Check Gamingx86414
7Wizards District Gamingx86414
8Magic Gaming86414
9Celtics Crossover Gaming77514
10Grizz Gaming68614
11Bucks Gaming68614
12Mavs Gaming68614
13Pacers Gaming59714
14Knicks Gamingx59714
15Jazz Gaming59714
16Warriors Gaming Squad410814
17Kings Guard Gaming410814

Tournaments

Tip Off Tournament

Regular season

Postseason

Score results

Bracket

Finals MVP: NateKahl

Awards

League leaders