*By Jimmy Mondal*
After a tumultuous season and a disappointing 5-9 record, the New York Knicks Gaming team was at the bottom the 2K league barrel.
But clutch seems to be the team's middle name ー the Knicks Gaming squad was able to pull off not one, but two miracle runs to qualify for the NBA 2K League playoffs.
By executing a victory in the TICKET tournament and harnessing the power of the fans at New York City's NBA 2K studio, the Knicks emerged the league winners in the last quarter of the finals match.
But now the question becomes: can the team trounce their competitors a second time?
According to Jeff Eisenband, host and analyst at the NBA 2K League, it's unlikely.
"The short answer I can give you, is probably not," he told Cheddar Sports. "There are 21 teams in the league. There were 17 in year one ー these teams are all so even.”
That said, Eisenband also thinks the team has serious talent on its side, including “ four players coming back, losing the NBA \[2K League\] Finals MVP, Nate Kahl, but … iamadamthefirst is one of the prime players in the league, and a lot of people forget about Goofy757, who is probably, in my mind, the best rebounder in the league.”
As for the future of the Knicks team, Eisenband thinks burnout will be a major factor.
"They had dominated the season, but I also think there’s a sense of burnout in that they had a target on their back the whole season."
Paul Kermizian, the co-founder of the popular arcade bar, used to collect vintage games as a hobby. By combining that passion with his love of craft beer, he created a multi-location business.
Paul Kermizian, co-founder of the popular Barcade, says vintage games are like a "work of art." The arcade/bar combines 80s games, like Street Fighter and Pacman, with craft beer.
The gold medal-winning swimmer says she could only talk about the issue because she stands on the shoulders of Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, who took the lead in breaking the silence.
The five-time gold medal-winning swimmer is already preparing for the next Summer Games. She trains for up to four hours in the pool every day and has to watch everything she eats, she told Cheddar Thursday.
The one-time Olympic gold medalist, who made history taking home a medal at this year's Games, told Cheddar that there's probably no way her body can "withstand another four years."
When former ESPN President John Skipper resigned in December, shockwaves rippled throughout the sports network. The Hollywood Reporter's James Andrew Miller broke details of the alleged cocaine extortion plot behind the scenes and joined Cheddar to discuss the channel's uncertain future.
One of Nike's top executives is stepping down over misconduct allegations. Airbnb is making it easier for people with disabilities to find rentals on its platform. We dive into the Theranos fraud scandal with the Wall Street Journal reporter who initially reported that something was off with the start-up blood testing company. And Tim Stenovec chats with Neil Patrick Harris about season two of his Netflix show "A Series of Unfortunate Events."
The Olympic gold medallist told Cheddar that, despite reports that the Winter Games had record low ratings, NBC was happy with the results. He said viewers have just changed how they access sports.
The fantasy sports platform is already building out a product that would allow sports betting, pending a decision from the Supreme Court, says DraftKings CEO Jason Robins.
Rex Tillerson is out as Secretary of State and CIA director Mike Pompeo is in. President Trump issued an executive order blocking Broadcom's hostile takeover bid for rival chipmaker Qualcomm. Olympic gold medalist and author Scott Hamilton joins us to talk about his figure skating career and his new book. Plus, Kristen Scholer sits down with Brooklyn Decker and Whitney Casey at SXSW to talk about their start-up Finery.
