Former NBA Player Gives League of Legends Team Pep Talk Before Big Game

This past weekend, League of Legends team Counter Logic Gaming won the biggest title of their career--the 2015 North American Championships.

Right before taking the stage, the players met Rick Fox (middle). For those who might not be familiar, Fox was a former player for the Los Angeles Lakers, and has three NBA championships under his belt. His son, Kyle Fox (right), has always been a big fan of Counter Logic Gaming--and apparently, his influence is rubbing off because Rick Fox has also become a pretty big fan.

In an interview with GameSpot, Counter Logic Gaming franchise player Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng explains that when they first met the basketball legend, Fox stated he was honored to meet the team.

Perplexed by the greeting, Doublelift explains his reaction: "At first, I was like--what the hell? He's honored to meet us? He's so much more successful than any of us. All of us combined--he's more famous, successful, and has done more."

"But then it dawned on me," Doublelift says. "He respects us because we put in a lot of work. Just like he put in a lot of work in basketball. Even though they're really different, they're similar in a lot of ways. We dedicate our lives to this one thing--and it's really competitive."

Although he doesn't go on to elaborate the details of what Fox said, Doublelift explains, "He gave us his sagely advice. I guess he had a lot of time to reflect on his successes and failures. It was really cool. He was a really inspiring guy. He's a very motivating speaker."