Gamers Beat NBA Players at 2K Sports All-Star Competition

NEW ORLEANS—2K Sports hosted its first annual NBA 2K8 East versus West videogame competition, which pitted the best online basketball players from Asia against the top North American players. In the end, Korea's champion took home the trophy, although all Finalists were flown to New Orleans to enjoy the 2008 NBA All-Star Game.

After playing the final videogame match on the plasma screen in front of a large audience of NBA Jam Session spectators, the NBA 2K8 finalists got to play three real NBA players in a two-versus-two match. New Orleans Hornet and NBA All-Star Chris Paul, who’s on the cover of NBA 2K8, was on hand with fellow NBA stars Rudy Gay and Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies to take on the videogamers. After a comfortable lead heading into the fourth quarter, the NBA players allowed the gamers to catch up and tie the game. In overtime, the videogame finalists put away the NBA players.

While some sports feature cover athletes that aren’t really gamers, all three of these NBA players are diehard videogame fans. In fact, the three NBA stars took this videogame competition very seriously, verbally exchanging tips and standing up at times after big plays and crushing misses. It was quite an entertaining match-up, both on the plasma screen and just watching the verbal jabbing.

More than any other sport, the NBA really embraces videogames at its annual All-Star gathering. There were game kiosks set up throughout the mammoth convention center. In addition to the huge booth that Midway had for its new NBA Ballers: Chosen One, which included a full-size caged basketball court, EA Sports had its NBA Live 08 on hand, 2K Sports had its game booth, Sony had its PlayStation big rig and there were videogames at non-gaming booths like T-Mobile and adidas.

About 85 percent of NBA players are avid gamers, which is one reason the NBA allows multiple companies to make new games. It gives more players the chance to be on the cover and gives more exposure to the NBA around the globe. In fact, the number one game in Korea right now is NBA 2K8—that’s the top game of all games, not just sports games. The NBA certainly takes videogames seriously and it’s great to see the fans get a chance to not only meet their favorite players, but watch them game on the virtual hardwoods.