ATLANTA, Georgia — The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club hired Wesley Acuff as the manager and head coach of Hawks Talon Gaming Club, Atlanta’s NBA 2K affiliate team.
Wesley Acuff is among the best NBA 2K gamers in the world — he also the content editor at Turner.
“If I hadn’t gotten this job, I definitely would have tried out again,” Acuff told Atlanta Business Chronicle. “… I think I’m hanging up the controller.”
The Hawks picked Acuff from a pool of nearly 1,000 candidates, and he will report to Samir Mayur, the Hawks vice president of business operations & strategy. Wayne Bryant was also hired as digital content coordinator for Hawks Talon GC. The Hawks declined to disclose Acuff’s salary.
Mayur cited Acuff’s “unique qualifications and extensive knowledge of the professional gaming community” as among the reasons for the hire.
Acuff finished in the top 250 out of more than 72,000 players who tried out during the combine last season. He spent the past decade in various content and production roles at Turner Sports, the Atlanta-based sports division of Turner Broadcasting System, owned by AT&T Inc.’s (NYSE: T) WarnerMedia, and NBA Digital in Atlanta.
OFFICIAL: We are happy to announce the hiring of @wesleyacuff as Hawks Talon GC's first team manager and coach 🎮
Follow the 🔗 for more: https://t.co/KtvYaYiiBy pic.twitter.com/MpXiESl84O
— Hawks Talon GC (@HawksTalonGC) 27 november 2018