Magic Gaming’s Unguardable Honored to be Named to 2023 USA Basketball E-National Team

ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic organization knows all about the importance of participating in FIBA related events.

Magic forward Franz Wagner and center Moe Wagner led Germany to their first gold medal in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero donned the red, white, and blue for Team USA. And Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley was named head coach of the 2023 USA Men’s Select Team, which trained with Team USA as they prepared for the event.

Now, another branch of the organization’s tree will have the honor of representing the franchise on the FIBA stage.

On Thursday, Magic Gaming point guard Joshua “unguardable” Hunter was named to the 2023 USA Basketball E-National Team, which will compete in the second season of eFIBA, FIBA’s official NBA 2K24 tournament.

“Growing up, everyone wants to be able to represent their country and do something for their country since our country does so much for us,” said unguardable. “We have such a free country. It’s amazing. To be able to represent this country is definitely an honor.”

It’s just another accomplishment on the growing list of accolades for Magic Gaming’s floor general.

Unguardable helped Orlando bring home its first banner title. He led Magic Gaming to their first playoff berths in 3v3 and 5v5. He was the first player in team history to be named an NBA 2K League All-Star. And most recently, he became the first All-Star in league history to win MVP in both 2KL All-Star game modes.

“He looked phenomenal in both modes – 3v3 and 5v5,” said Magic Gaming General Manager and Head Coach Jonah Edwards of unguardable’s performance in the 2KL All-Star Games. “It felt like he was the best player on the court in both modes, and obviously, won MVP. He looked really good and led his team in both game modes. I think all of his teammates expected him to win those awards which says a lot about him as much as anything else.”

Joining unguardable on the 10-member USA Basketball E-National Team are CB13, Craft, Crush, Dawsix, Dayfri, Dimez, Johnnyred, Seese, and Shiftykaii. AntSzn and Dtrick will supplement the roster as practice players. Lance Sessions will serve as the head coach and will be assisted by Mitchell Franklin and Josiah Cohen.

“Being able to learn and play with some of the best players (in the world) while representing the U.S. is always a great thing,” said unguardable. “The point guard room is ridiculous. There’s so much knowledge you can take from them. It’ll be great to be able to just learn while being able to play and represent the U.S. It’s just amazing.”

The team will compete in eFIBA Season 2, which consists of North America Regional Qualifiers (Oct. 5 and Oct. 19) before the North America Regional Final (Nov. 9). The top nation from each region (top two from Europe) will secure a spot in the 2023 eFIBA Season 2 World Finals, taking place in-person at DreamHack Winter, an immersive gaming lifestyle festival, from Nov. 25-26, in Jonkoping, Sweden.

USA Basketball will name a roster of five players and one reserve for each stage. Until the World Finals, games will be played remotely on NBA 2K24 using the Pro-AM mode and allowing for customization of gamer avatars and uniforms.

The team will tip off action on Oct. 5 with the first stage of North America competition. The Regional Qualifiers and Regional Finals of eFIBA Season 2, as well as the eFIBA World Finals, will be streamed on Tuesdays and Thursdays on eFIBA’s Twitch and YouTube channels and on FIBA’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

“Participating in FIBA’s e-sport initiatives is important for USA Basketball to continue to grow the sport of basketball with new audiences,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said. “I’m excited to watch the USA Basketball E-National Team compete this fall as we continue to support our gaming program.”

In all, 61 federations will participate, with a group of six teams representing North America, including Barbados, Cayman Island, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and USA.