Warriors Gaming Squad Grouped with Pacers Gaming, T-Wolves Gaming in THE TIPOFF Powered By AT&T
May 12, 2021
Warriors Gaming Squad will meet a few familiar faces in Group B of THE TIPOFF Powered By AT&T, the tournament opening the 2021 NBA 2K League season on May 19.
THE TIPOFF powered by @ATT is about to go down!
$160K on the line as 23 teams compete for the first banner of Season 4 🏆
Watch LIVE on Twitch and YouTube, May 19-22. #TheTipoff2KL
Read more: https://t.co/zPIB3Pbmcr pic.twitter.com/4uuLWoFmJd
— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) May 11, 2021
As part of the $160,000-tournament, teams will compete in one of seven groups containing either three or four teams. The winner of each group, as well as one wildcard team, will advance to the elimination stage. The tournament’s winner will receive $70,000; second place will net $50,000; third and fourth place will each take home $20,000.
We don't stop fighting.
Game 2 is locked in, and we're 1-1 in the Group Stage! pic.twitter.com/pasdyFG16l
— Warriors Gaming (@WarriorsGaming) June 17, 2020
WGS is grouped with Pacers Gaming and 2019 champion T-Wolves Gaming. Pacers Gaming and WGS have shared a group at THE TIPOFF for three consecutive seasons, with Pacers Gaming eking out a 53-51 victory in 2019 and the two teams splitting two games in 2020. In the second game in 2020, WGS point guard Charlie “CB13” Bostwick set franchise and personal records with 54 points and 7 steals in one game. Pacers Gaming boasts the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, point guard Xavier “630” Barraza, and also features a veteran group of four players in their fourth seasons in the NBA 2K League.
🚨 TRADE ALERT 🚨@TWolvesGaming receives: @malikleisinger, a 2021 3rd Round pick (#53) and a 2022 2nd Round pick. @WarriorsGaming receives: A 2021 1st Round (#13) & 2nd Round pick (#30 via Gen.G Tigers), and a 2022 1st Round pick. pic.twitter.com/9OD25goQYe
— NBA 2K League (@NBA2KLeague) November 30, 2020
T-Wolves Gaming, meanwhile, features center Malik “Slaughter” Leisinger, whom WGS drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft. Slaughter, who previously spent the 2018 season with Jazz Gaming, helped WGS to the 2020 NBA 2K League Finals, averaging 11.7 points and 14.3 rebounds (second in the league) during the regular season. WGS dealt Slaughter to T-Wolves Gaming in the 2020 offseason in exchange for first-round picks in 2021 and 2022 as well as a 2021 second-round pick, which netted No. 13 pick Antoine “ANTOINE” Featherstone and Matthew “Matty” Grant in the 2021 draft. T-Wolves Gaming also boasts a backcourt of Michael “BearDaBeast” Key, the 2019 Finals MVP, and 2020 rookie phenom Dhwan “ShiftyKaii” White. Warriors Gaming Squad defeated T-Wolves Gaming 2-1 in last year’s regular-season matchup.
Full groups and information for THE TIPOFF can be found here, while the group stage schedule can be found here (under “Tournaments”).