Morning Briefing: Chiquita Evans breaks a video game barrier

Chiquita Evans became the first woman ever drafted into the video game NBA 2K League when she was selected in the fourth round Tuesday night by Warriors Gaming, which is run by the Golden State Warriors.

Evans is now the esports league’s first female pro. Each of the 126 players in the league will make between $33,000 and $37,000 per season, plus benefits and team housing.

“It feels surreal,’’ she said.

Evans, who lives in Mobile, Ala., was one of two women who qualified for the draft this year through the league’s online combine. The other, Brianna Novin, was not selected. The NBA and game publisher Take-Two Interactive run the league.

The league had no women in its first season, and the NBA wanted to change that. They hired some analysts to talk to focus groups to determine why only men qualified for the league. The biggest problem: Male players weren’t passing the ball to their female teammates.

“It made us put more emphasis on how good a player was when they got the ball in their hands,’’ 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue said.

“That’s the only part of it they can control.’’

The other problem is the sexist comments than run rampant and discourage many female players from playing in the combine.

“I’ve had sexual remarks put towards me,” Evans said. “I get told I should be back in the kitchen. ‘2K is not for women,’ I’ve had that. There’s no question about that.”

Now, any gamers who use sexist remarks are banned from playing.

Not that it can be done away with entirely. Even after Evans was drafted, another player waiting to be picked, Kimanni Ingram, gave her a backhanded compliment.

“She has a high basketball IQ for a girl,’’ Ingram said.

No pregnant pause

Sydney Leroux, who plays for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League, is taking part in preseason practice with the team. Now that may not seem like a big deal, but some people on social media are unhappy because Leroux is 5½ months pregnant.

Leroux tweeted out a photo of her practicing on Monday and received several critical comments, mainly from men, that she has no business being on the field when she is pregnant.

This is despite the fact she is taking part only in noncontact drills and everything she does is approved by a doctor.

One commenter went so far as to accuse her of risking her baby’s health just to make some money. Leroux responded by tweeting, “I have yet to respond to some of you ignorant people but this one made me lol. 99% of those that have criticized my ‘training’ have been men. Until you push a baby out of your vagina you need to sit this one out. I don’t play for the money honey, I play because it brings me joy.”

Bulldog speaks

Don’t count Dodger pitching great Orel Hershiser among those who hate how the game has evolved.

Hershiser, appearing on the PodcastOne “Sports Now” show, was asked about all the new things in baseball, such as shifts and openers. He said players and managers will adapt.

“I don’t think the essence of the game has changed,” Hershiser said. “But definitely the strategy of the game has changed.”