Ty Jerome to control Suns as team continues to stream games on NBA2K

The Phoenix Suns will continue to stream the rest of their regular season on Twitch, and for the first time, a player from the team will be controlling the Suns.

Rookie point guard Ty Jerome will be playing “NBA2K20” on the Suns’ Twitch channel at 6 p.m. against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Suns’ original opponent for Wednesday before the suspension of the league’s schedule.

The Suns later announced it will be Jerome facing off online with Timberwolves wing Josh Okogie.

Phoenix plans to finish out the season virtually as the NBA continues to be put on pause due to the spread of COVID-19. Seven NBA players have already tested positive, including Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant and Utah’s Rudy Gobert. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the league is targeting a best-case scenario of resuming the season in mid-to-late June.

The hope is Jerome fares better than pro NBA2K player Antonio Saldivar, who controlled the Suns on Friday in a loss to Lawrence “Buddy” Norman playing as the Dallas Mavericks, the first game of the series.

Jerome, 22, was a first-round selection made by the Suns in a draft-day trade with the Boston Celtics. The point guard was behind early in the season due to a high-level ankle sprain that had him miss over a month.

After a strong start out of the gates in early December against Charlotte with four points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals, Jerome struggled to earn consistent minutes as the team’s backup point guard, a spot that has been a weakness on the Suns’ roster.

On the season, Jerome is averaging 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 11.3 minutes per game over 28 appearances.

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