NBA: Meyers Leonard Dominates Call Of Duty Tourney, Ben Simmons MVP

Miami Heat big man Meyers Leonard is winning on and off the court.

With the NBA on a hiatus, Leonard found other ways to win – this time in a Call of Duty team tournament set up by Slam Magazine. The competition was streamed live on Twitch on Saturday, March 21.

The Slam Call of Duty battle was a 6-vs-6 tournament, with Leonard leading a group composed of Donovan Mitchell, Zach LaVine, Mario Hezonja and pro-gamer Fatality. LeBron James’ son, Bronny James Jr., was the last and surprise addition to the team.

On the other hand, the group competed against the team led by Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons. Terrence Clark, Josh Hart, Royce O’Neal and gamers Zeno and TAHJ completed the heavyweight roster.

The five-match series went the distance, but in the end, it was Leonard’s group that came out on top and clinched the series-clinching win. The Heat big man dominated the series, tallying 324 kills and only 180 deaths.

Interestingly though, Simmons was named the MVP of the showdown -- much to the surprise of Leonard... The Sixers point-forward finished with 304 kills and 220 deaths.

Despite losing the MVP honor, Leonard had the bragging rights and made sure to rub it on Simmons’ face on Twitter. The 28-year-old center even called himself the undisputed “NBA King on Call of Duty.”

Here are a couple of highlights:

The NBA remains suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic that has spread all over the world. Several NBA players have already tested positive for COVID-19, including Rudy Gobert, Kevin Durant, Christian Wood and Marcus Smart.

Mitchell himself also tested positive for the infectious disease, though it is clear he is felling way better now considering that he was able to join the competition.

The NBA has advised its players to stay in isolation, practice social distancing and maintain good hygiene amid the crisis, so players were left with no other choice but to stay home and kill time with video games.

While the Call of Duty tournament isn’t enough to fill everyone’s hunger for sports and basketball, at least it provided some excitement and fun to the ongoing suspension.