Players Gonna Play: Professional Athletes Who Are Gamers
Practicing, watching film, working out, going to promotional events: The life of a professional athlete. But, when they do get a free minute, many of the biggest names in sports love doing what most of us do: playing games. Here are five sporting stars that are also gaming fanatics.
Neymar- Professional footballer, Paris Saint Germain
Favorite Game, CS:GO
For hardcore gamers, 1000 hours in your favorite game is a milestone. It shows that you’ve dedicated yourself to learning the intricacies of that game. Now, imagine getting to 1000 hours with the schedule of the most expensive footballer in history. He’s gotten to Gold Nova 1 and spent some time playing with the stars of MIBR, like coldzera and FalleN.
There are pictures on Instagram of the prolific scorer of goals, showing his capabilities with the AWP. Not too bad for one of the best footballers on the planet.
Gordon Hayward- Professional basketball player, Boston Celtics
Favorite Game- League of Legends
Hayward once tweeted about what would happen if he played one of the NBA’s greatest ever players, “One on one versus LeBron James? He would get crushed. We would all be witnesses to a straight up annihilation.” Many thought he was talking about a game of basketball, but he was actually talking about LoL.
He has played with pros before including some from Team Curse, which confirmed that the Celtic’s star would, indeed, smash LeBron 1v1. Hayward has expressed appreciation for esports in the past and there have even been talks about him investing in an organization.
Jeremy Lin- Professional basketball player, Atlanta Hawks
Favorite Game, Dota 2
The first NBA player of Taiwanese descent has probably dedicated more time to a single game than any other professional athlete in the world. He has played Dota 2 for the past 15 years, even after making fun of his brothers for playing a game he thought was “dumb”.
He’s a big fan of the team aspect of Dota 2, and his favorite hero is Phantom Assassin. Despite the busy schedule of NBA players, Lin has been to The International and other major Dota 2 events as a fan and special guest commentator. He even endorses J.Storm and is their honorary captain.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson
Favorite Games, Overwatch, PubG, StarCraft: Brood War, CS 1.6
After beating his opponents into the ground inside the Octagon, Mighty Mouse heads home to his second career as a part-time streamer on twitch. He is serious about the job and tries to stream for at least 15 hours every week. Things can get competitive when he plays online, with an ongoing rivalry with fellow MMA star, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Johnson even has a youtube channel where he uploads gaming videos regularly. His latest is from an IGN event where he played Rampage in Soul Calibur 6. With over 60,000 subscribers, Mighty Mouse is probably the most serious gamer of them all.
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