‘Everybody deserves an opportunity.’ Billings sportswriter overcomes obstacles to reach career dreams | SWX Right Now

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BILLINGS- Esports are a form of competition using video games, and it’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country.

So popular in fact, that traditional professional sports teams have launched their own Esports programs. For basketball, that’s the NBA 2K League, featuring professional players as well. One local sportswriter has carved out a career for himself covering the best in the game.

21-year-old Billings sports enthusiast Trenton Reed is no different. He’s a big Cowboys fan. He’s loves baseball, but one day he stumbled on something new, E-Sports and the NBA 2K League.

“I was a huge baseball guy before I got into E sports and now my work is just E sports, I’m also busy, always trying to find something to do and do what I can to remain consistent,” Reed said.

Interested in the world of sports media, Trenton started writing about the 2K League, amateur leagues, the players. He says he likes the pressure; and having something to do every day.

“It’s great that he has found something that he loves to do, he spends a lot of time doing it, but loves doing it,” said Trenton’s father, Rob Reed.

Writing for the NBA 2K League has become a full-time job for Trenton. Constantly watching Twitch video streams of games, monitoring stats, but being a freelancer is tough. He says there were moments of doubt over the last couple seasons, moments where he bet on himself, and it wasn’t paying off.

“Everybody told me, multiple business in Montana told me I’d never be able to work in e-sports, it wasn’t suitable for me because of my disability and to be honest it was tough,” he said.

Trenton was born with cerebral palsy, A group of disorders that affect movement, muscle tone, balance, and posture. He has to use a wheelchair, and faces physical obstacles that affect everyday life, and his ability to write.

“I’ll give an example, taking highlights or clips of a twitch broadcast is very tough because my hands are really shaky, and my right hand doesn’t work very well,” Trenton explained. “You just find a way, you get it done, and you try to get meet the deadline to as close as you can.”

His determination, hard work and his writing skills all paid off last year when he got a special invitation to the NBA 2K League Championships in Indianaoplis, the Super Bowl of his sport.

“The atmosphere was so crazy,” Trenton recalled. “You watch the league from home, you watch the league in person it’s like two different things, the energy is crazy. Everybody is playing for more than just 2K they’re playing for their families.”

Trenton learned something valuable. The people he wrote about every day, loved his work.

“I learned that a lot more people read my work than I thought. It was crazy how many people came up to me and appreciated my work. Everybody was super nice, super chill so that was kind of rewarding. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I was going there but it was everything I could have imagined.”

His dad added, “Blew me away. Every player, I don’t think there was a player that didn’t say hi or go up to him, knuckles, hugs pictures and the gear he came back with was crazy as far as jerseys and all kinds of things. Players, coaches, everyone with the league it was cool to see him basically glow the whole time we were there.”

Trenton has found something bigger than himself, and he said that was always the driving force through the hard times.

“You know I kind of hope this inspires other people to chase whatever they want to whether it be in e sports or anything at all, don’t let other people tell you that you can’t do anything, chase what you want to.”

His career in professional sports writing is taking off. A new 2K season is around the corner, and Trenton is already thinking of others. Thinking of how he can grow the popularity of Esports in Montana and thinking about all of those with a disability who deserve a shot at their dreams.

“It’s important to me because everybody deserves an opportunity. When you get that opportunity, you take it and run with it and I think as we go further down the line, I’d hope that the message would be to give others opportunities regardless, regardless of what their situation is everybody deserves an opportunity to prove themselves.”

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