Professional athletes across major sports leagues may see a dip in their on-field performance this November, according to NBA star Steven Adams of the Houston Rockets. Adams jokingly predicted that the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto VI will captivate top athletes, leading to a downturn in their game quality.
"Look at the NFL, look at all the leagues, and watch them plummet. Just for the month of November, performance is gonna go down," Adams told reporters. He elaborated that this slump would be temporary, with performance expected to recover once players have had sufficient time with the game. "It should come back up though; most of the boys will get it done. Hopefully they finish the game," he added.
Adams also humorously extended this prediction to other aspects of professional sports, including coaching and scouting efforts, which he described as potentially "horrendous" but confined to November.
While Adams's remarks are likely lighthearted, they underscore the immense anticipation surrounding GTA 6. The game's release on November 19 is poised to be a significant cultural event, with a large audience, including professional athletes, expected to engage with it. This isn't the first time video games have been linked to athletic performance; a previous instance saw an NFL player attribute on-field struggles to gaming, and NFL quarterback Kyler Murray is known to be an avid player of Call of Duty.
Adams himself has spoken openly about his personal interest in video games, citing titles like Dota 2 and Smite as favorites, and referring to himself as "more of a nerd" in past comments to TMZ. The release date of November 19 falls on a busy day for sports, with multiple NBA games scheduled and a Week 11 Thursday Night Football matchup in the NFL.