Katrin Auch, ActivisionRudy Gay and Jason Terry go head-to-head in "Call of Duty: Black Ops."Want to know how serious Jason Terry is about playing video games? The man has a PlayStation 3 hooked up in his locker at the American Airlines Center and takes on all challengers, whether it's before a game, after a game, or even at halftime. That's right, the Mavericks sharpshooter has been known to shoot down some "Call of Duty" foes during halftime of basketball games. (I wonder if he ever imagines the enemy wearing referee shirts).
I guess that's why Terry decided to celebrate his recent NBA Championship run with a trip to "Call of Duty: Black Ops" developer Treyarch in Santa Monica, putting his skills to the test against not only the creators of the best-selling virtual war phenomenon, but fellow NBA player/gamer Rudy Gay.
The ballers were among the first to trade fire on the new Annihilation map packs released on Tuesday, and with the NBA lockout now in full swing, new "Call of Duty" levels couldn't come any sooner for a couple of highly-competitive players looking to unleash some frustration while packing some serious cyber heat.
"I'm a video game fanatic," Terry confesses to me before the first match. "When I'm not playing sports games, I'm always on 'Black Ops' and going online looking for guys to compete against. Then I go to find out that Rudy is the same type of player, and I know what type of competitor he is on the court, but I'm going to see what he's got today."
And Rudy is quick to point out, he's not some casual gamer. In fact, he's the type of guy who can't wait until a game comes out, even attending midnight launches after Grizzlies games. "I remember when 'Black Ops first came out, we had a game the night before, but the store was having a midnight launch so you could buy the game early, so as soon as our game was over, we all headed to the store to buy the game and we played that night," says Gay. "That's just how it is. Me and my teammates are always competing against one another."
So who thinks they're the best?
"Mike Conley is one of those guys who not only gets the game early, but he'll go out and get the strategy guide and look for every trick he can find," adds Gay. "I used to hate those kids growing up."
Now that kid is feeding Gay alley-oops during primetime and "Call of Duty" grenades around midnight.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Jon Robinson
Ever since he first handed the ball to Bo Jackson in "Tecmo Bowl," Jon Robinson has been mesmerized by the world of sports video games. He's been covering gaming professionally for over 15 years, starting his career writing as "Johnny Ballgame" for GamePro magazine before becoming the founding editor of IGN Sports. Robinson co-wrote the book "The Madden Phenomenon," is the author of "Rumble Road: Untold Stories from Outside the Ring," and his latest work, "My Favorite Match," will be released by Simon & Schuster in June. 
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