The Miami Heat has made the NBA playoffs in 20 of the last 23 years by building a winning culture. The team's chief marketing officer Michael McCullough said the Heat plans to bring that same championship mentality to eSports.
The NBA is making a bet on eSports, a multiplayer video-game tournament in which players are sponsored by actual teams, in the hope the league can recruit new fans.
Earlier this month, the NBA 2K league held its first-ever draft at Madison Square Garden. Seventeen NBA teams, including the Miami Heat, selected the top video-game ballers to compete in a basketball video-game championship.
McCullough said the Heat acquired a stake in the eSports organization Misfits to "bridge the gap between the 2K fan and the traditional Heat fan."
The NBA 2K league tips off May 1, in the middle of the actual NBA playoffs.
The Heat is tied 1-1 in an Eastern Conference first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers. McCullough said the key to winning championships is believing in the idea that 15 players win championships, not 1 or 2.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/when-esports-and-real-sports-collide).
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Retired New England Patriots, Rob Gronkowski, recently announced a new career path in CBD. He's not the only athlete getting into the biz. After leading the U.S. women's soccer team to a World Cup title, Megan Rapinoe and her sister announced a line of CBD products aimed to treat pain and aid in recovery. While views on cannabis continue to evolve, the sports world hasn't caught up. Even CBD is still prohibited in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. Former Olympian, Dr. Joanna Zeiger, and now founder of Canna Research Group, joined Cheddar to discuss athletes and cannabis.
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After creating custom shoes for the stars, including Jay-Z and Beyonce, Rich Franklin, founder and owner of Dry Steppers, decided to solve a problem for the everyday person. Franklin shares how he got the idea for his business and talks about how he's grown his business.
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