Video game enthusiasts will now have a chance to compete for an NBA title, in an actual NBA arena and get paid by the some of the same people who pay LeBron James and Steph Curry.
The NBA 2K eLeague is coming in 2018, the first eSports league operated by one of the four major pro sport leagues in the United States.
The NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software have announced that they are bringing some of the world's best gamers together to compete while representing actual NBA teams.
"There's going to be an opportunity for this first of a kind league to attract a group of gamers who might be playing some other game," said NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
"Now, they can say 'maybe I couldn't play for the Knicks, because I didn't have the physical prowess to compete at that level.
"But I do have the mental and physical prowess to compete as an egamer for the eKnicks."'
The league will start with about 8-12 teams - Silver did not say which teams, but noted that eventually all 30 NBA teams will be represented.
Gamers will be chosen through a recruiting process by NBA teams and Take-Two.
They'll go through a virtual version of a combine and a draft, which Silver says will either be televised or streamed online.
Each NBA franchise will select five gamers to represent its team.
From there, the team of gamers will play in an 82-game regular season, advance to a playoff and the top teams will compete for a championship, which most likely will take place at an NBA arena, Silver said.
"We want to make this as real as possible," said Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, the parent company of 2K games.
He said there will be a cash prize for the winner.
