The Dallas Mavericks and Mavs Gaming are actively taking steps to give women in sports the guidance and resources needed to make it to the next level in the male-dominated E-Sports industry. The NBA 2K League team took a unique approach to the Mavs Gaming Texas Ticket Tournament that concluded on Jan. 31 to ensure that the women that registered were setup for success. As a direct result of the tournament, two women that participated will enter the NBA 2K League draft pool.

“Women account for nearly half of all gamers in 2020, however, there is a significant lack of representation in the competitive scene,” Jourdan Kerl, Mavs Gaming E-Sports Content Managersaid. “There are gamers in the world, like the women of the Texas Ticket, that can outplay their opponents. The beauty of gaming is that the skill is on the sticks. As more young women get exposed to video games, it is important that they also see themselves represented among the best, and I believe that the NBA 2K League and Mavs Gaming is leading this change.”

As part of the NBA 2K League Draft Prospect Series, the competition included 16 teams battling for the number one spot in a NBA 2K21 PS5 5v5 Pro-Am mode tournament. Of the 230 people that registered to participate, 13 were female.

With a cutoff of 80 participants in the tournament, all 13 females qualified to compete. New this year, Mavs Gaming coaches’ LT Fairley and Lance Sessions were given the opportunity to hand-select each of the five players for the 16 teams. With diversity and inclusion at the forefront of the team’s intentions, Mavs Gaming strategically placed each of the women amongst 13 of the 16 teams, maximizing the chances of a female being granted draft eligibility.

“Being a 2K League coach and the head of our draft process, I know that women can be just as competitive as men on NBA2K,” Mavs Gaming Head Coach LT Fairley said. “With the Texas Ticket we highlighted the ladies participating so that the community could become aware of their skill set. The 13 women were all placed on different teams with male talent and were treated as a regular gamer.”

The winner of the Texas Ticket Tournament was Team Obtain, which resulted in teammate Aaliyah “x_poisonIvy24_x” Currie entry to the draft pool. With the option to use their “Prospect Badge”, that automatically makes an individual not on the winning team draft-eligible, Mavs Gaming chose another female Ayleesha “ABallaGirl” Harvey.

The Dallas Mavericks and Mavs Gaming are committed to playing an active role in promoting diversity and inclusion and commend the League’s commitment to becoming more diverse and inclusive through its’ Women in Gaming initiative. For more information on Women in Gaming, click here.

To keep up with Mavs Gaming, visit mavsgaming.nba.com and follow the team’s social channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

ABOUT THE NBA 2K LEAGUE: The NBA 2K League, a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), launched in 2018 and features the best NBA 2K players in the world. Each of the league’s 23 teams features six players who compete as unique characters in 5-on-5 play against the other teams in a mix of regular-season games, tournaments and playoffs. During the 2020 NBA 2K League season, NBA 2K League partners included Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Champion Athleticwear, Dash Radio, DoorDash, eGG Network, ESPN, Facebook, GameStop, HyperX, Jostens, Panera Bread, Raynor Gaming, SAP, SCUF Gaming, Snickers, Stance, Twitch and YouTube. For more information about the NBA 2K League, visit NBA2KLeague.com.

ABOUT MAVS GAMING: Mavs Gaming is the Dallas Mavericks affiliate team in the NBA 2K League. The NBA 2K League is a professional competitive gaming league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Bringing together the world’s best basketball gamers, this marks the first official Esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. For more information visit mavsgaming.nba.com.

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