Starved for content, ESPN figures that people will want to see NBA players do their thing: play basketball. Virtual basketball.
Gaming company 2K, the NBA, and the National Basketball Players Association jointly announced a 16-player NBA2K20 tournament on Tuesday afternoon featuring 16 NBA players facing off in a tournament in the video game. Jazz star Donovan Mitchell was among the highlighted participants.
The winner of the single-elimination tournament will earn $100K for a charity of his choice. By virtue of having the fourth-highest player rating in the game, Mitchell earned the fourth seed in the bracket, and will face Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura in the first round.
NBA
Mitchell seemed excited about participating in the contest on Tuesday, tweeting “Let’s get it!!!” The other 15 participants in order of seeding are Kevin Durant, Trae Young, Hassan Whiteside, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Andre Drummond, Zach LaVine, Montrezl Harrell, Domantas Sabonis, Deandre Ayton, DeMarcus Cousins (81), Michael Porter Jr., Hachimura, Patrick Beverley, Harrison Barnes, and Derrick Jones Jr.
The tournament will take place from Friday through April 11. The games will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 as well as the ESPN and NBA apps, though the TV schedule for the first two rounds was only partially released on Tuesday:
NBA 2K SCHEDULE
All times Mountain
Round 1
Friday
5 p.m.: NBA 2K Players Tournament Preview Show, ESPN
5:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. ET: Derrick Jones Jr. (16) vs. Kevin Durant (1), ESPN
6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. ESPN2, TBD
Sunday
10-2 p.m. ESPN2, TBD
April 7
Quarterfinals, 5-9 p.m, ESPN2
April 11
Semifinals & Finals, ESPN, TBD
