The NBA, 2K and the Players Association have teamed up to hold the NBA 2K Players Tournament. This competition will be held in NBA 2K20 and will see 16 current NBA players face off in a single-elimination tournament. Competitors will be playing on Xbox One and the winner will select a charity to receive a $100,000 USD donation from 2K, the NBA and the NBPA in support of coronavirus relief.
Players will play one on one in online matches in NBA 2K20 and are seeded by their NBA 2K ranking and tenure. Each player is able to select eight NBA teams and is able to use each of them only once, should they survive that long in the competition.
The first two rounds will be single-elimination and the semifinals and finals will be best of three.
NBA 2K Players Tournament
The NBA 2K Players Tournament commenced on April 3 and saw Kevin Durant, Domantas Sabonis, Michael Porter Jr, Donovan Mitchell, Harrison Barnes, Zach Levine, Demarcus Cousins and Hassan Whiteside eliminated from the competition.
You can check out highlights of the first round in the video below.
The quarterfinals were held on April 9, 2020 and the results are as follows;
| Matchup | Winner | Result |
| Devin Booker vs. Rui Hachimura | Devin Booker | 71-55 |
| Montrezl Harrell vs. Derrick Jones Jr. | Montrezl Harrell | 71-66 |
| Trae Young vs. Deandre Ayton | Deandre Ayton | 73-66 |
| Andre Drummond vs. Patrick Beverley | Patrick Beverley | 69-62 |
The semifinals will be held on April 12, 2020, with the matchup between Montrezl Harrell vs. Devin Booker kicking off at 10 am AEST (8pm ET). The NBA 2K Players Tournament will first be broadcast on ESPN and will then be viewable on the ESPN App, NBA.com, the NBA App, 2K and NBA socials and Twitch, YouTube and Facebook.
All 16 participating players are;
- Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets (96)
- Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks (90)
- Hassan Whiteside, Portland Trail Blazers (87)
- Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz (87)
- Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (86)
- Andre Drummond, Cleveland Cavaliers (85)
- Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls (85)
- Montrezl Harrell, LA Clippers (85)
- Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers (85)
- Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns (85)
- DeMarcus Cousins (81)
- Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets (81)
- Rui Hachimura, Washington Wizards (79)
- Patrick Beverley, LA Clippers (78)
- Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings (78)
- Derrick Jones Jr., Miami Heat (78)
You can check out videos of the matches on YouTube here.
Josh Goodstadt, EVP of Licensing for THINK450, the commercial arm of the NBPA said;
This tournament offers a unique opportunity for our players to compete with one another while also supporting their philanthropic efforts and engaging with their fans.
We are excited to work with 2K and the NBA to bring this experience to life for the entire NBA community.
NBA 2K20 is available now.
