Team SMG recently announced that Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross would be departing their Dota 2 roster, and he has since come forward saying he was kicked due to assumptions that his performance would be affected. In a series of tweets, he disclosed the following:

Kicked because my mom was on her last days and they assumed it would affect my performance. I already knew for some time that this day will come. Since she had stage 4 cancer. She passed away on monday. Imagine being fired from a job because you are about to lose a loved one. [ 1 ]

Further explanation. I was supposed to fly back and join the team on the 14th. My mom had a stroke on the evening of 12th and was admitted. I asked if i could have my flight moved as bootcamp starts on the 20th. Midone gave me a call on the 14th asking my decision. [ 2 ]

I gave my decision the following day and was informed he wanted to talk. They had a meeting without me and informed me the were going to continue without me. [ 3 ]

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He also showed a lengthy message in which he intended to join the team’s bootcamp at a later point, hopefully after settling any remaining matters regarding his mother’s discharge or passing should it come to it. He makes it clear he still wants to play “regardless of the outcome”, simply that he just could not afford to leave at such a critical juncture. As it were, his mother has since passed, with fans and talent alike extending their condolences.

ninjaboogie joined Team SMG February 2022 as the Position 5 ( hard support ), making getting kicked, as he says, roughly a mere 3 months since then. It doesn’t paint Team SMG in a flattering light considering he explained the severity of the situation, and fans are talking about the situation, this one mentioning sponsor boycotting, and ninjaboogie himself confronting the official account.

We offer ninjaboogie our condolences, and wish him all the best.