AuthenticAfrican named to Canada’s NBA 2K eNational Team for FIBA Esports Open II

North and Central American Conference Play to Take Place Dec.19-20

Grizz Gaming, the Memphis Grizzlies’ NBA 2K League team, today announced that AuthenticAfrican (Meyhar Ahmed-Hassan) has been selected to Canada’s NBA 2K eNational Team for the upcoming FIBA Esports Open II, which will take place Saturday, Dec. 19 and Sunday, Dec. 20. The Inaugural FIBA Esports Open included five conferences featuring 114 gamers from 17 national federations. The FIBA Esports Open II field has been expanded to 38 national teams in seven regional conferences.

A native of Toronto, Ontario, AuthenticAfrican recently completed his third season with Grizz Gaming averaging 13.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 69.7 percent from the field and 50.8 percent from 3-point range. The shooting guard was one of five players in the NBA 2K League to shoot at least 69.0 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range last season. AuthenticAfrican also holds the NBA 2K League record for points in a single game with 84 points against 76ers GC during season one.

Canada Basketball will tip-off virtually for the first time in the FIBA Esports Open II against gaming teams from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Puerto Rico and the United States for the right to be crowned North and Central America Conference champions. Each national team will consist of up to seven players, five on the court and two reserves. Games will be played remotely on NBA 2K21 using the Pro-Am mode, which has more range and flexibility in player archetypes than the NBA 2K League build.

The FIBA event will be produced from the FIBA Esports Studio in Riga, Latvia, with 54 hours of live content being streamed on FIBA’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels. Each North & Central America Conference games game will be available online with live commentary in English, as well as a daily show featuring up to 12 games.

Fans can follow the team on Twitch at twitch.tv/grizzgaming, @grizzgaming on Twitter and Instagram, as well as GrizzliesGaming on Facebook to follow along with the team’s 2021 season.

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. NBA 2K League partners include 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.