Jeremy Lin is a big fan of Esports and he’s showing off that passion on a new TV series on TBS. Lin appears on the last of a 4-part series chronicling an Esports league where players battle it out in DOTA 2. The show, called ELEAGUE Road To The International Dota 2 Championships, airs its finale on TBS this Friday night at 10 p.m.
Lin appears on the show because he’s among the sports’ most famous fans, but the series actually takes an inside look at how these athletes prepare for matches and the drama that comes with life in Esports. The series concludes with the tournament itself, following its protagonists all the way to the finals.
Lin takes in The International 2017 in Seattle, a major Dota 2 tournament held earlier this year. Dota stands for Defense of the Ancients, a video game made by Valve that’s wildly popular among Esports enthusiasts. Lin himself was shown the game by his younger brothers and fell into playing it.
Lin admires the competitors just like any sports fan would its stars.
“When I attended my first TI three years ago I was absolutely blown away with just how hyped the crowd was and the cheering and everything around it,” Lin said. “It literally feels like an athletic event when you’re watching the game.”
Lin plays the game himself, and even has a favorite hero: Phantom Assassain. The Brooklyn Nets point guard points out that the teamwork in Dota 2 and games like League of Legends makes them easy to watch for sports fans.
“I don’t like individual sports and I don’t like individual games,” Lin says. “I like when you have to work with your teammates, and DOTA puts you in that position where all five of your teammates have to be clicking together in order to win.”
There’s a moment in the clip where Lin asks an Esports fan who won the NBA Finals last season, and he clearly has no idea. It’s supposed to be a funny moment, but it highlights just how serious Esports are taken these days. It seems like he was expecting Lin to ask who won the tournament last season, because that’s what matters to him.
It’s a striking moment, and one that makes a large point for what Lin is arguing. Whether the traditional sports fan like it or not, Esports are a big part of the sports landscape these days, and they’re only going to get bigger and more important.
