The NBA 2K League announced Thursday that it has suspended Cavs Legion GC (3-3) point guard LYKaPRO for the TURN Tournament and three regular-season games and fined Cavs Legion GC $10,000 for a violation of league rules during a regular-season game against Magic Gaming (2-3). Each member of Cavs Legion GC, except sixth man SavageDoWerk, was also fined $750.
The punishments emerged after a thorough investigation by the league into a reported rule violation by Cavs Legion GC. On April 11, Cavs Legion played Magic Gaming in the team’s second game of the regular season (Magic Gaming’s first). The game was delayed substantially due to technical issues, the cause of which league administrators determined to be defensive matchup switching by both teams. Consequently, administrators forbid both teams from switching matchup settings the rest of the game, a rule agreed to with 11:18 remaining in the game. Cavs Legion, however, switched matchups after the restriction and eventually won the game 59-57.
Point guards control the matchup-switching function, and thus LYKaPRO was given the harshest penalty. The league ran dozens of tests and conducted interviews to determine that Cavs Legion had in fact switched matchups, as indicated by the matchups instituted automatically after a dead ball. The league indicated in its announcement that the fine for Cavs Legion GC was in part due to obstructing the league’s investigation into the infraction.
LYKaPRO, who finished the win over the Magic with 7 points and 10 assists, was Cavs Legion GC’s first-round pick (No. 18 overall) in the 2019 entry draft. He played for Warriors Gaming Squad in 2018 and went unretained during the 2018 offseason.
The game will not be replayed. Cavs Legion will face Jazz Gaming in the first round of the TURN Tournament in Las Vegas in the main bracket, while Magic Gaming, the top seed in the play-in bracket, will face Wizards District Gaming in the first game of the tournament on Thursday, May 9.
