Work is play for Toronto’s Raptors Uprising gamers
TORONTO — It comes with 10 gaming stations, six bedrooms, pingpong and a pool table, not to mention big-screen TVs galore and a spacious deck complete with a barbecue and hot tub.
But depending on your definition, there is more work than play in the well-appointed house that serves as home to the six members of the Raptors Uprising GC (Gaming Club), who carry the gaming colours of the Raptors in the NBA 2K League.
Toronto’s Yusuf (Yusuf — Scarbz) Abdulla and American teammates Christopher (Detoxys) Doyle, Kenneth (Kenny) Hailey, Seanquai (KingQuai614) Harris, Trevion (All Hail Trey) Hendrix and Joshua (TsJosh) McKenna spend six to eight hours a day perfecting their craft in the hightech basement.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment opened the Raptors Uprising home/HQ for the first time to media this week.
“I never really had roommates, so it’s a different experience. Exciting. Big house. Love it,” said the 25-year-old Abdulla. “I love my teammates, they’re like my brothers. Amazing experience.”
The NBA has gone all-in on the fledgling esports circuit, a partnership with Take-Two Interactive, which manufactures the hoops video game.
“From the NBA standpoint, this is our fourth league,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said prior to the NBA 2K League’s inaugural draft in early April, referencing the NBA, WNBA and G League.
“That’s exactly as we’re treating it — one more professional league,” Silver added.
The Raptors are one of 17 NBA teams to take part in Year 1 of the esports league, commuting to New York on weekends to play virtual games in a studio before a live audience and those watching on the popular Twitch gaming channel. It’s five-versus-five with each gamer controlling his own player.
The 102 gamers in the league were drawn from a pool of more than 72,000 who entered qualifying. They play a special build of the game that ensures each team uses virtual players with essentially the same skill sets.
Raptors Uprising stands 15th with a 2-5 record going into this week’s game against seventh-place Wizards District Gaming (3-3). The Toronto gamers, however, insist their record, which includes three overtime losses against top teams, doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I do feel like we have an opportunity to close out this season with a big run and climb back into playoff contention,” said Shane Talbot, esports manager for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
That would mean a top-eight finish in the 14-game regular season, which includes several mid-season tournaments. Blazers Gaming currently top the standings at 6-0.
Talbot said MLSE looked long and hard for a suitable residence before settling on this house, a spacious rental tucked down a quiet residential street — its location on a need-to-know basis.
In the basement, a long table is decked out with top-of-the-line gaming computers and chairs under a lighting system that can go from laboratory-white to nightclub-cool.
“As a lifelong gamer, this is my dream setup,” Talbot said.
The gamers say their chemistry is good on and off the virtual court.
“We have so much space so we don’t get in each other’s way,” said Hailey, a 28-year-old from Memphis who was the team’s top draft pick at No. 11 overall.
The gamers have taken different paths to get here.
McKenna, a 22-year-old native of Decatur, Georgia, was studying sports management at Georgia State. Doyle, a 20-year-old from Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, was at the University of New Hampshire. Hendrix, 21, was working at a steak house in Arkansas. Harris, a 24-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, was homeless for a while. Hailey was working for AT&T as a distribution coordinator until he quit his job to game professionally.
All played for their high school basketball teams.
MLSE is paying them a salary as well as taking care of their room and board.