It’s hard to believe, but the NBA 2K League’s first-ever European event, the EU Invitational, kicks off in just two days.
Since its announcement, we’ve been patiently waiting for the 13th of December to roll around, and for this event to finally become a reality. Thankfully, it’s almost here. The 20 participating players will fly out tomorrow, while 2K League representatives such as Jeff Terrell (Head Coach of 76ers GC) and Patrick Crossan (Head Coach of Wizards DG) have already made the flight over.
https://twitter.com/TheWhiteKite23/status/1204300702081675264?s=20
I have no doubt this event will be invaluable to the players taking part, as they’ll be able to play in a LAN environment (possibly their first time competing on a stage), meet with coaches and other personnel involved in the NBA 2K League, and also get to meet fellow members of the 2K community in person. Other members of the European Pro-Am community have voiced their excitement for the event, and I’m sure it will be a surreal feeling to see players you’ve competed against online all playing together on the stage.
https://twitter.com/StepKerr/status/1204786374521622528?s=20
For the players themselves, it’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase their skills. With 2KL coaches in attendance, there’s no better time for someone to step up and earn their place in the draft pool for Season 3. As you can see from the above tweet, six players made the draft pool in NBA 2K League Season 2 after competing in the APAC tournament, an event held by the NBA 2K League for top players from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and China. Several more figure to be selected from the EU region after the European Invitational.
With that in mind, I’m really looking forward to seeing how these players get on, hopefully the bright lights of the stage don’t impact them too much, though I’m sure playing in the Gfinity Arena will be quite different from playing at home. Either way, I’m really looking forward to attending the event and watching these players give it their all. Hopefully the scouts are impressed and we see a bigger number of European prospects in the draft pool for the NBA 2K League this year.
