5 Canadians qualify for NBA 2K League Draft through Raptors Uprising’s Scout the North Tournament
November 13, 2020
TORONTO, Canada—The North has been scouted.
Another historic event is in the books as Raptors Uprising GC’s second annual Scout the North Tournament presented by OLG concluded Thursday evening with some of Canada’s very best NBA 2K talent on full display.
In what was the biggest edition of the tournament to date, dozens of Canadians entered competing for coveted NBA 2K League draft spots, but only five would emerge victorious.
With NBA 2K League official broadcaster Dirk alongside Raptors Uprising stars Kenny Got Work and Timelycook calling all of the action, Pro-Am team Vengeance—Tyler ‘Highkeyy’ Stone, Abdul ‘GOLDSTRAP’ Hassan, Ahmed ‘isoair’ Abdullahi, Abdollah ‘Dunnoee’ Arab, and Muse ‘Burnurr’ Muse—would triumph past a competitive field to each earn eligibility in the upcoming NBA 2K League Draft.
Controlling the tempo from the get-go, Highkeyy would be named Scout The North MVP presented by LG for his standout play, taking home a 27” LG UltraGear™ Monitor, the world’s first 4k NANO IPS 1ms Gaming Monitor. The Vengeance point guard, who elected to run with chemistry over talent, showcased his poise and off-the-charts basketball IQ throughout the tournament en route to helping his squad to the title.
Dominant from the jump. @Highkeyy__ is your Scout The North MVP, taking home a 27” @LGCanada UltraGear™ Monitor and a spot in the draft! pic.twitter.com/evSRlN0LGe
— Raptors Uprising GC (@RaptorsGC) November 13, 2020
“All of the people that I’m playing with right now, I know them all in real-life,” the Scout the North MVP told the broadcast after the finals. “It feels really good, especially on the main stage, especially with everyone that I know. I can’t even explain with words: I’m so hype right now.”
Vengeance’s only real slip-up of the six-day event came in the semifinals against Real Oh Jheez, losing their first game of a best of three—the team’s only loss of the tournament. Facing elimination, the Pro-Am team would, however, claw back to win two straight to advance to the finals, led by the one-two scoring punch of Highkeyy and centre Burnurr.
In the finals, Vengeance would ride that momentum until the very end, turning a few heads by sweeping a highly touted and (up to that point) undefeated Earned Not Given side (3-0 series) to clinch the title.
https://twitter.com/RaptorsGC/status/1327107213291294720
“Burnurr played outstanding,” said Highkeyy after the tournament. “Last year, we played in a Raptors Uprising tournament… we were playing with a different centre. We picked him up this year, and he performed greatly—greatly on defence, making the right plays on offence—you can’t ask for much more from him. He did his thing.”
In addition to the five NBA 2K League draft spots that were rewarded to Vengeance, a prospect badge will be handed out to one standout player from the tournament, also granting them draft eligibility. Former Season 1 NBA 2K League player Devillon, IrmanBurr, and JaytovenXXI of Earned Not Given, Real Oh Jheez’s Pappimeals and CurlyHeadedKilla, and AirBilo and |ryanflores| of 6GL are all contenders after putting forth a strong showing.
While only one of those names will walk away with the prospect badge, the performances of the aforementioned—and many more—did not go unnoticed.
The Scout the North Tournament presented by OLG was the official scouting tournament for Team Canada ahead of the upcoming FIBA Esports Open II, and on hand to take in the entire event was Raptors Uprising’s Shane Talbot, the recently-named inaugural Manager of Team Canada.
“Canadian 2K talent was on full display last night,” said Talbot. “Even Dirk, Kenny, and Timely—some of the brightest minds in the game–were impressed by what they saw. From an elite right-stick shooter in IrmanBurr to an MVP-performance from a point guard who chose his IRL friends over a super team, the Finals were full of skill and exciting storylines.”
Perhaps the most notable storyline of all was once again the growth of 2K talent as a whole in this country. While we, as a community, are still in the early years, there’s no doubt the Canadian NBA 2K community is trending in the right direction: North.