It’s hot and muggy outside, but fortunately this basketball game is indoors and the players all seem pretty locked in. The one they call “Boo” is particularly chatty, talking his team through an intense weekday scrimmage.

“Good ‘D’ there,” he calls out. “Got to get a stop. … All right, good board. … Yo, everybody stay home on your shots.” And so on.

Even as the score tightens and the players look winded, he never breaks a sweat. Austin “Boo” Painter plays basketball five days a week alongside his teammates, all lined up against one wall, all facing oversized screens and holding video-game controllers. Painter is the leading scorer for Wizards District Gaming, which is in the midst of its inaugural NBA 2K season, a fledgling league that’s backed by the NBA.

The upstart is trying to capitalize on the esports explosion — big-name investors are lining up to get involved in various teams and leagues, and even the International Olympic Committee has taken an interest — and in the process the new NBA 2K League has helped carve out unlikely career paths for sports gamers, perhaps few as improbable as Painter’s.