The Timberwolves' new video game team — T-Wolves Gaming, for the NBA 2K League — has a general manager and head coach: He's Shawn Vilvens, an assistant coach on the men's basketball team at Cincinnati Christian University last season.
Vilvens, a U.S. Navy veteran, is making the jump from coaching actual basketball to the gaming world. That's not too big of a jump, though, because Vilvens has also been a high competition Pro-Am gaming team owner and player since 2016.
T-Wolves Gaming is one of four expansion teams entering the NBA's 2K video game league this spring. That will bring the number of franchises to 21 in the league's second season. Each six-player team — with a GM/coach — will practice and live in their home city during the week and then fly to an NBA television studio near New York City to compete each other on weekends.
Vilvens, 39, plans to move to Minnesota in February and eventually will relocate his wife and three sons here for what is a full-time, year-round job. The team has acquired its first two players through an expansion draft and a trade and will add four more.
"We're going to get involved in the community and help market and promote our team and our league," he said. "I'll be part of the organization."
Jerry Zgoda
