Cason Wallace Will Use New 'Call of Duty' to Connect, Compete

The Oklahoma City Thunder have plenty of gamers on their team, but Cason Wallace is especially excited to return to the sticks to play the newly-released Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Cason Wallace, Call of Duty / Activision/Cassy Athena

The long-awaited release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is finally here, and many on the Oklahoma City Thunder have already fired up 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 yearly releases as a way to connect and compete. However, the release of Black Ops 6 has an elevated element of excitement for Wallace.

"Zombies. I be on Zombies all night," Wallace told Thunder on SI. “I am ready to get back on Zombies! They did not have it in the last one, I am ready to get back on there!"

Digitally, Wallace is looking forward to taking on hoards of zombies alongside friends. But what about on-court?

"I am excited to see how many games I can play this year, I want to go another year of 82," the Thunder guard informed Thunder on SI.

Oklahoma City has various players on their roster that load 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 Call of Duty tournament at NBA Summer League competing against other NBA players.

“[Jaylin Williams] won that thing for a reason, I do not think anybody in OKC is touching him," Wallace laughed. "He plays that thing all day every day You would expect that from him. I would say [I'm] third, I am pretty good, but just to be safe.”

While Wallace is a mild mannered player on the court, off the court he admits things are different when the headset goes on when asked if he talks trash while playing Call of Duty.

“Yeah, A little bit, it depends on who I am playing with.” Wallace said cracking a big smile.

NBA players are typically creatures of habit when it comes to preparing and playing in games. Call of Duty is not much different.

“If I am playing multiplayer, I have my headset in with some music playing so when the game is over I listen to music. But, if I am playing zombies — I am just headset, locked in, dark room, I got to feel it, you know?” Wallace explained.

Many of these Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 sessions will happen with his brother, Keaton Wallace, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks. With busy schedules, Call of Duty serves as a vessel to bond.

“Definitely, that is our go-to right there. ‘Yo, hop on Call of Duty’ then we just chop it up about whatever we got going on, life or basketball. Call of Duty is our way to stay connected,” Wallace said. “Every summer, or every day after school we will go home play Call of Duty.” 

When those games were still in person, the brothers would play split screen one-on-one matches, and the Thunder guard admitted to cheating — though the statute of limitations is clearly up on this.

“Me for sure, I am definitely screen-peeking. If we are going one-on-one, there is no way I am gonna find you, and your screen right there,” Wallace said. 

Wallace's 360 no-scope's are few and far between, but he is looking forward to the new movement-based game-play in Black Ops 6. And as excited he is for it, he's even more still to pass off the Thunder rookie duties to the team's next rookie class.

“The speaker was indeed heavy, and it was a little troublesome bringing it on some flights,” Wallace said. “I gave it to Dillon [Jones] but if he wants to pass it off to Ajay [Mitchell] that's fine. As long as it gets on the plane, I am good.”

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