It represents one of the biggest tie-ups between video gaming and a major sports league.
Eventually all of the 30 NBA teams will have an e-sports division, but initially only a few will be chosen.
In England, Premier League clubs Manchester City and West Ham have signed up e-sports players.
The basketball e-league - known as the NBA 2K ELeague - will start playing in 2018. The teams, which will be made up of five players, will play a five-month season that mirrors the real NBA season.
Those chosen to make up the teams will be given salaries and play the game as avatars that they create for themselves, rather than representing actual players.
"We believe we have a unique opportunity to develop something truly special for our fans and the young and growing e-sports community," said NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
"We look forward to combining our best-in-class NBA sports team operators with Take-Two's competitive gaming expertise to create a brand new league experience."
Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two said: "Through the NBA 2K series, which is renowned throughout the world for capturing the authenticity of the NBA and the passion of its fans, we have a proven track record of highly successful collaboration.
"With this new venture, Take-Two and the NBA aim to fuel the accelerating growth of e-sports and take the thrill of competition to exciting new heights."
The UK is also recognising the growing importance of e-sports.
In May 2016, West Ham became the first club in the UK to sign a professional video game competitor, Sean Allen, who represents the club at Fifa video game tournaments.
Brian Blau, a director at research firm Gartner, thinks that e-sports could grow rapidly in the next few years.
"Some estimates suggest that in the next five years, e-sports could become bigger than real sport, in terms of generating money and fans," he said.
"It is another avenue of interaction for gamers, that is feeding off the interest in watching others play games."

Six incidents have been reported to police between 3 and 13 February.
In all the cases, two or three men have targeted foreign national tourists in an attempt to steal money - succeeding on two occasions.
The men, who are described as southern European, claimed to be police officers before demanding to search the victims.
Police Scotland said the first incident took place at about 13:20 on 3 February in the Grassmarket, when a Chilean man was approached by a man who asked him to take his photograph.
The pair were then approached by two suspects who claimed to be police officers and then demanded to search them.
The two police impersonators then got into a silver or grey Seat hatchback and drove away and the other man walked into the Grassmarket.
Officers said the Chilean man later realised a three-figure sum of money had been stolen from him.
On 13 February, two Chinese tourists lost a four-figure sum of cash when they were targeted in a similar scam on Market Street. They were approached by two men who showed them ID and said they were undercover police officers.
Other incidents happened in Chambers Street, Castle Street, and in the Calton Hill area. There was one incident on 3 February, one on 11 February and four on 13 February.
Sgt Mark Hamilton, of Police Scotland, said: "These men are purposely targeting tourists who are visiting the city centre in a bid to steal money from them.
"Impersonating a police officer is not only inappropriate, it is illegal. We would advise that if you are stopped by someone claiming to be a Police Scotland officer, request their collar number and ask to see a warrant card.
"All our officers are happy to provide this information to the public and it should be offered readily."
The National Basketball Association has teamed up with video game publisher Take-Two Interactive to create an e-sports league in the US.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Police in Edinburgh are investigating a series of thefts and attempted thefts where men have impersonated police officers.