There is more than one basketball team in town heading to the postseason.
As the NBA’s Orlando Magic jostle for position in the postseason, its gaming division, known as Magic Gaming, has already punched its ticket.
On the back of a point guard living up to his nickname, Joshua “unguardable” Hunter, Magic Gaming got hot this weekend.
The result was a run that ended with a championship in NBA 2K League’s SWITCH tournament.
The win brings with it $30,000. Magic Gaming’s point total for this year has earned a first-round bye in the postseason of the league’s 3v3 season.
NBA 2K League’s format in 2024 calls for a 3v3 and 5v5 season.
“It’s a great feeling to win for the Magic,” said Hunter, who was named tournament MVP. “Being able to win for the Magic has always been a goal of mine since I got here. We finally got the job done.”
Original 17 franchise
Magic Gaming was one of the NBA 2K League’s original 17 franchises in 2018. This is the first time the team has won a tournament that included all NBA 2K League franchises.
On their way to the title, Magic Gaming rattled off wins against NBA 2K League teams representing the Portland Trailblazers, Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons.
They then took out a special bid team made up of non-NBA 2K League players before defeating the overall No. 2 seed Los Angeles Lakers Gaming and finishing it all off with a sweep of T-Wolves Gaming.
“I truly believe the Orlando Magic is one of the best organizations in all of sports,” Magic Gaming Head Coach Jonah Edwards said. “We are an organization that deserves to win. It is incredibly humbling. It’s so awesome to win for them as much as anything else.”
After the Lakers took Magic Gaming to a tiebreaker in the best of 5 series format, Orlando’s squad made relatively quick work of T-wolves Gaming.
They swept the final match 3-0, winning the games to 21 by an average of 10 points. The Magic came into the 32 team tournament as a 9 seed while the T-wolves were seeded at No. 18.
“We knew we were the better team,” said Ashton “LowKeyGodLike” Agredano. “We just had to lock in and trust each other; and we won.”