Fan favorite and former face of the Denver Nuggets, Kenneth Faried, has seen his role with the team undergo a dramatic transformation under head coach Michael Malone. Often labeled as a “Karl guy”, Faried operates as more of a symbol than a basketball player these days — his presence on the bench serving as a reminder of the team’s identity in the immediate aftermath of the Carmelo Anthony trade.
While Faried may not be playing much basketball anymore, the $12 million man is still living his best life. His snapchat and instagram document “money fights” with members of his immediate family, he spends as much time as he needs to on his Herculean body, and of course, the dude plays a ton of ‘Fortnite’.
‘Fortnite”—the popular free video game that brings users together in an online arena and tasks either individuals or teams with being the last one(s) standing following an all out war in a contained map—has exploded in popularity around the world, but it is particularly prevalent among young NBA players.
For those of you older than 30 who have know freaking clue what I’m talking about and are somehow still reading, I’ll dumb it down for you: there’s a game, there’s a flying bus, you parachute out of the bus and you shoot people with guns. Kenneth is very good at this game.
The E3 ProAm, which took place on Tuesday, was conceived of us as charitable event:
“The concept behind the event was not an esports tournament, but one for a $3 million dollar charity prize pool instead. Epic paired 50 Twitch streamers/YouTube creators with 50 celebrities.”
Faried, who falls loosely under that celebirty category, and his partner, CourageJD, finished in second place behind Twitch superstar Ninja and EDM megastar DJ Marshmellow.
It is in this moment, as I have finished typing the words “DJ Marshmellow” that I am greatly relieved I skipped journalism school. Nothing is beneath a blog boy.
Ninja—who is famous for his record breaking stream of an all night Fortnite session with the most recognizable MC in the game, Drake—is also widely known as the greatest ‘Fortnite’ player alive today. As long as that blue haired wonder was in this competition, no one else had a chance. But Faried can hang his hat proudly on a second place finish, one that sends money to a charity of his choice.
Faried’s days as a starter may be long over, but perhaps a long and illustrious career in gaming awaits ‘The Manimal’ if he so chooses.