Steven Adams says GTA 6 will sink pro sport for a month
Houston Rockets centre Steven Adams says every major professional sports league will dip in quality in November because athletes will be focused on Grand Theft Auto VI.
He made the prediction to reporters at the Houston Rockets' Media Day, Complex reported. Media Day is the pre-season session where players speak to local and national reporters. It sets the tone before competitive games begin.
"The performance of the league, league-wide. GTA is dropping," Adams said, Yahoo Sports reported. He told reporters to watch the NFL, North America's professional American football league, and all leagues plummet in performance just for the month of November, GameSpot reported. Adams plays for the NBA's Houston Rockets, the professional basketball club based in Texas.
Adams did not limit the joke to players missing shots or tackles. He said coaching and scouting efforts will be horrendous in November because of the game. Coaching covers preparation and tactics. Scouting covers the assessment of opponents and young talent.
He also gave the slump an expiry date. League performance should come back up after players finish GTA 6, he said. Play through it. Then back to work.
Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on 19 November 2026. That date is a Thursday, according to a newswire post from Rockstar Games published on 6 November 2025, Rockstar Games. The game is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, the current home consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Rockstar describes the title as a single player experience, meaning one person plays through the story alone rather than with others online.
Adams has form here. He has named Dota 2 and Smite among his favourite video games. Both are team-based online games built around short, repeat matches. That is a very different rhythm from a large story release that players tend to binge in long evening sessions.
What makes this stand out is the scale of the punchline. Adams took a familiar habit, staying up late for a new release, and applied it to every locker room at once.
