How an Elite Group of eSport Ballers Got to Play in NBA 2K
*By Mike Teich*
Top video game players finally have a path to becoming pro-gamers and a shot at $1 million in prizes, said Brendan Donohue, the managing director of the NBA 2K League.
The league is a video game competition organized by the makers of the NBA 2K game and the National Basketball Association. As esports have risen in popularity, competitions like this one give gamers a chance to cash in on their talents. First-round picks in the inaugural draft can earn $35,000 for six months of play.
The pay may not stack up against actual NBA salaries, but NBA 2K League players are excited about their earnings and the progress esports have made over the past 14 months, said Donohue.
More than half of the pro hoops teams are participating in the first season of the NBA 2K League as partners. The teams built their e-rosters through a draft on April 4. A total of 72,000 video game players qualified for the league, with 102 making the final cut.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inaugural-season-for-nba-2k-league).
Fintech company Square, led by the now-former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, will undergo a name change to Block as it expands its product offerings and goes beyond just a payment processing platform into blockchain and crypto spaces.
Jill and Carlo discuss what appears to be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade, another victim dies following the school shooting in Michigan, Omicron in the U.S., Trump's Covid chronology and more.
Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of Twitter, saying he believes the social media platform is "ready to move on from its founders". The move has many wondering where Dorsey will focus his attention next, as he is still CEO of his financial payments company Square, which is heavily involved in cryptocurrency. Doug Astrop, managing partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joined Cheddar to discuss what Dorsey's resignation means for tech investors, particularly within the crypto space.
Astra founder, chairman, and CEO Chris Kemp spoke to Cheddar's Kristen Scholer about his company's first successful launch into orbit last month, becoming the fastest space company to reach orbit using a privately developed liquid-fueled rocket. He also noted that the company's priority is to "improve life on Earth from space" by rapidly increasing the number of low-orbiting satellites to do everything from connecting people to monitoring weather patterns.
Once again, YouTube is releasing its annual list of the top trending videos and music videos that had people in the U.S. talking. Madeline Buxton, trends expert for YouTube joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Stocks closed at session lows Wednesday as investors grew skittish over the first reported case of the COVID-19 omicron variant in California. Josh Sailar, Partner at Blue Zone Wealth Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss investor worry over the new variant, the Fed dropping the word 'transitory' to describe inflation and potentially speeding up their asset tapering timeline, 2022 predictions, and more.
