At Tuesday’s NBA 2K League Draft, two women will be among the other gamers vying for a place in the league. The group of contenders also includes 22 gamers from outside the U.S. Last year’s inaugural draft class consisted on 102 men, with just nine being from outside the U.S.
This year’s draft occurs at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 5 p.m. ET, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. Chiquita Evans from Kentucky and Brianna Novin from New Jersey qualified for the draft through the league’s online combine in December, which evaluated 7,000 players in total. Both are expected to be at Barclays Center on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press. The draft pool is comprised of a total of 198 eligible players, but only 74 individuals will be selected by the league’s 21 teams.
“I’m aware that I’m 1 of 2 women in the draft pool this year, and I wish [Novin] all the best of luck on her 2K success,” said Evans, in a statement to Polygon. “The only thing on my mind right now is being ready to work, and be the best teammate I can be if my name is called Tuesday.”
During the inaugural draft application process, according to Polygon, the league did not look at gender while narrowing its list in order to keep the process blind. This year, the league created focus groups with top female players to help it diversify its talent pool.
The female players explained that when they used voice chat while playing NBA 2K—revealing who they were—“they didn’t get passed the ball as much,” said Brendan Donohue, managing director of the NBA 2K League, according to Polygon. As a result, Donohue said that the league made an effort to “look at some deeper statistics” and to “put more emphasis on how good a player was when they got the ball in their hands.”
SportTechie Takeaway
With only two female gamers in of a pool of 198 eligible draftees, there’s still a strong chance neither Evans nor Novin will have their name called. “I wouldn’t say we’re satisfied,” Donohue said on Monday, according to Polygon. “I mean, I think we view this as another positive step, but [there are] several more to come.”
A recent study from market research firm Interpret claimed women make up 30 percent of the entire esports audience, though major esports leagues are still heavily comprised of male players. A micro grant was recently established by the 1,000 Dreams Fund to help aid women pursuing careers in esports.