Cason Wallace will use the new “Call of Duty” for communication and competition

The long-awaited release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is finally here, and many in the Oklahoma City Thunder are already excited about the game, including defensive ace Cason Wallace.

The Kentucky product has been playing Call of Duty for a long time, like many gamers, using the annual releases as a way to connect and compete. However, the release of Black Ops 6 left Wallace with increased excitement.

“Zombie. I’ll be on Zombies all night,” Wallace told SI’s Thunder. “I’m ready to return to Zombie! They didn’t have that in the past, I’m ready to go back there!”

Digitally, Wallace is looking forward to battling hordes of zombies with his friends. What about playing on the court?

“I’m really excited to see how many games I can play this year, I want to make it another 82 year,” the Thunder guard told SI.

Oklahoma City’s roster has a variety of players loading up Call of Duty, including Jaylin Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams, Kenrich Williams and Alex Caruso.

The former Arkansas big man even won the NBA Summer League’s Call of Duty tournament while competing against other NBA players.

“(Jaylin Williams) won this thing for a reason, I don’t think anyone in OKC touches him,” Wallace laughed. “He plays this thing all day every day. This is to be expected from him. I would say (I’m) third, I’m pretty good, but just in case.”

While Wallace is a soft-spoken player on the court, off the court he admits it’s different when his headset turns on and he’s asked if he talks trash while playing Call of Duty.

“Yes, a little, it depends on who I’m playing with.” Wallace said, smiling widely.

When it comes to preparing for and playing games, NBA players tend to have habits. Call of Duty is not much different.

“If I’m playing a multiplayer game, I have music playing in my headset, so when the game ends, I’m listening to music. But if I’m playing a zombie, I’m just an earpiece locked in a dark room, I have to feel it, you know?” Wallace explained.

Many of these Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 sessions will be with his brother Keaton Wallace, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks. With a busy schedule, Call of Duty serves as a means of communication.

“That’s definitely our goal. “Yo, jump on Call of Duty,” and then we just talk about what’s going on, life or basketball. Call of Duty is our way of staying connected,” Wallace said. “Every summer or every day after school we go home and play Call of Duty.”

When these games were still head-to-head, the brothers played one-on-one matches on split screen, and the Thunder guard admitted to cheating – although the statute of limitations on this had clearly expired.

“I definitely, I definitely look at the screen. If we go one-on-one, there’s no way I’m going to find you and your screen right here,” Wallace said.

Wallace’s uncrossed 360-degree views are few and far between, but he’s looking forward to the new motion-based gameplay in Black Ops 6. And as excited as he is for that, he’s even more eager to pass on Thunder rookie duties to the team’s next rookie class .

“The speaker was really heavy and a little difficult to carry on some flights,” Wallace said. “I gave it to Dillon (Jones), but if he wants to give it to Ajay (Mitchell), that’s fine. As long as it gets on the plane, I’m fine.”

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