NBA 2K League hit with betting scandal, bans player from league

A betting scandal has hit the NBA 2K League.

HEAT Check Gaming power forward Basil “24K Dropoff” Rose has been ejected from the league and barred from reentry. HEAT Check Gaming is the NBA 2K League affiliate of the NBA’s Miami Heat franchise.

24K Dropoff allegedly worked with someone outside the league who was placing bets on league games and aided them by feeding information on competing teams.

“After an investigation, the NBA 2K League determined that Rose violated the league’s rules against tipping on NBA 2K League Games by providing inside information to an individual who Rose knew was involved in betting on NBA 2K League Games,” the NBA 2K League said in a statement on Twitter. “The investigation did not find that Rose attempted to fix or otherwise improperly participate in any NBA 2K League game.”

Neither 24K Dropoff nor HEAT Check Gaming have released a statement on the decision as of this writing. 24K Dropoff’s profile page on the official NBA 2K League website has been taken down.

Esports is no stranger to betting scandals. There have been a number of high-profile incidents in almost every major title in the industry, ranging from bookies coordinating fixes with players in StarCraft: Brood War to League of Legends team owners placing bets against their own teams and then making late substitutions to lower their chances of winning.

While the NBA 2K League was explicit that 24K Dropoff made no effort to fix matches himself, feeding insider information to bettors undermines the integrity of any competition. It is unclear whether 24K Dropoff was giving the bettor information on his own team or on others he had played against. The statement did not clarify whether 24K Dropoff received financial compensation for this information, though it is assumed.

This likely ends the player’s career in the game and is a bad hit of publicity for the NBA 2K League.