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).
The Cheddar Sports crew caught up with Goldenboy ahead of the Overwatch Grand Finals for his thoughts on who he thinks will score a win and which players to watch.
The Cheddar Sports crew caught up with the team members of the Philadelphia Fusion, who upset the top-seeded New York Excelsior in the first round of the Overwatch championship. Getting to this weekend's Grand Finals, the team said, is a dream come true.
Stephen Revetria, Senior Vice President of the San Francisco Giants, joins Cheddar's Alyssa Julya Smith to talk hosting the Rugby World Cup Sevens and major tech advances at AT&T Park.
Jay Williams, a second-round pick in the 2002 NBA draft, has been a major proponent of paying college athletes. But he says the league needs real disruption to get those in charge to see the light.
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Mark Griffin, commercial director at USA Rugby, doesn't want to be the NFL or MLB. Rather, Griffin wants to spread the sport by forming rugby clubs at high schools and colleges. "The college infrastructure in America is absolutely incredible and second to none," he told Cheddar.
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Nearly 150 victims of Larry Nassar's sexual misconduct stood on stage Wednesday during the ESPY Awards to accept the Arthur Ashe prize for courage. Josh Hill, Senior Editor at FanSided, explains that their visibility will raise general awareness for sexual abuse, far beyond the arena of sports.
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The pro wrestler and his wife's new reality show, "Miz and Mrs," debuts on USA July 24. The Miz tells Cheddar that if he had to fight a tech titan, he'd pick Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. "My recycling bin is out the roof. I need like three different recycling bins all filled with Amazon boxes because [Maryse] loves Amazon Prime."
