Steven Adams: GTA 6 could dent league play in November

At an NBA media day, veteran center Steven Adams predicted the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 would reduce league performance across sports in November by distracting players, coaches and scouts. He added he expected performance to recover in December.

Adams pointed to the long gap since the last mainline entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, which was released in 2013. He said the concentrated attention around a major launch could pull focus from practice, games and scouting in the weeks after release.

Adams told reporters, ‘I will say, you guys should anticipate November, the performance of the league, league-wide… GTA is dropping. So look at NFL, look at all the leagues and watch them plummet, mate. Just for the month of November, performance is gonna go down. It should come back up though, most of the boys will get it done, hopefully they finish the game. Coaching as well, by the way. The coaching and scouts are gonna be horrendous, mate.’

There is no historical data linking a single video game release to measurable declines in professional sports performance. Teams assess players on fitness, preparation and in-game mindset, and off-field entertainment is not normally quantified in performance reviews.

Adams singled out coaching and scouting as areas likely to be affected, predicting staff responsible for game plans and opponent evaluation would be more distracted in November. He described the effect as limited to a brief window and expressed confidence that teams would return to normal operations once initial interest fades.