Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward joins Pro Gaming League: NBA Update
The lockout in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is forcing many players to play overseas and a number of players have already sign with different international basketball clubs. However, Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward
has a different view on the work stoppage. He has decided not to play professional basketball overseas during the lockout. Instead, he will be playing in Pro Gaming League this fall.
The 21-year-old Hayward has agreed to join a professional video game league (IGN Pro League) where he will be competing professionally against many other eSports video gamers. Gordon Hayward has joined IGN Entertainment for only
one competition (StarCraft11) that will be held from October 6-9 at Caesars Atlantic City. The total prize money of the competition is $100,000 and almost 256 players will be competing.
Speaking about the move, Hayward said. “I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember, I'm a competitive guy, and I love the competitive nature of video games. Pro-gamers are really sports stars themselves, The mental
strategy that goes into planning your next move and what your opponent is going to do are skills you need to be successful playing basketball — and playing Star Craft II. If you want to be good, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it, just like with
other sports. I've got the best of both worlds.”
Earlier, Hayward also gave a promotional video interview in which he compared playing professional basketball to playing professional video games.
Gordon Hayward has only one year experience in the league so far. He played total 72 games in the 2010-2011 season for the Utah Jazz and averaged 5.4 points, 1.90 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. Before coming into the biggest
basketball league in the world, he had spent two years with Butler University in Indianapolis.
His tremendous ball play led the Butler to the finals of 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament. Although, Butler finished as runner-ups but Hayward’s game was commendable throughout the competition and
he established himself as a reliable player. Hayward’s great success with the Butler pave his way into NBA and on June 24th 2010, he arrived in the league when Utah Jazz selected him ninth overall in the first round of 2010 NBA draft.
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