NBA Will Broadcast Players-Only 2K Tournament

The NBA season is still suspended, but the players are getting creative with ways to keep their competitive fires burning, while also letting the fans tune in.

Dalton Trigg | Mar 31, 2020

NBA Will Broadcast Players-Only 2K Tournament /

According to a Yahoo Sports report, the NBA is planning to broadcast a ‘Players-Only’ 2K video game tournament starting Friday on ESPN. The tournament will feature 16 NBA players - none of them current Dallas Mavericks, unfortunately - and is expected to last 10 days.

Seeding for this tournament was determined by the players' official 2K overall ratings, followed by their tenure in the league. Here is what the ‘Players-Only’ 2K bracket looks like, according to The Boardroom, which was created by Kevin Durant and his agent, Rich Kleiman:

1-seed Kevin Durant (96 rating) vs. 16-seed Derrick Jones, Jr. (78 rating)

2-seed Trae Young (90 rating) vs. 15-seed Harrison Barnes (78 rating)

3-seed Hassan Whiteside (87 rating) vs. 14-seed Patrick Beverley (78 rating)

4-seed Donovan Mitchell (87 rating) vs. 13-seed Rui Hachimura (79 rating)

5-seed Devin Booker (86 rating) vs. 12-seed Michael Porter, Jr. (81 rating)

6-seed Andre Drummond (85 rating) vs. 11-seed DeMarcus Cousins (81 rating) - I wonder if they’ll post up more in this one to satisfy the virtual TNT halftime crew?

7-seed Zach LaVine (85 rating) vs. 10-seed DeAndre Ayton (85 rating)

8-seed Montrezl Harrell (85 rating) vs. 9-seed Domantas Sabonis (85 rating)

With the COVID-19 crisis taking away all sports from us for the foreseeable future, don’t be surprised if you see more of this kind of sports entertainment going forward. Perhaps a Madden tournament will be next? How about FIFA? We already know both Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson would more-than-likely be all in on a FIFA tournament among NBA players only, given their recent online match played against each other.

By the way, we hope at least one of the 16 players listed above chooses to play with the Mavs, because we already know from personal experience how much fun the virtual Doncic-Kristaps Porzingis duo can be.

In a tournament like this one, seeding is merely a formality. Kevin Durant may be the No. 1 seed due to his overall 2K rating, but that doesn't mean Derrick Jones, Jr. couldn't be the better 2K player. This thing is going to be completely random, probably wild, and above all else, uniquely entertaining in time where most of us sports buffs need it the most.

With all that being said, we're going to root for our guy Harrison Barnes since there are no current Mavericks in the tournament. Once a Maverick, always a Maverick (unless your name is Rajon Rondo).

Published Mar 31, 2020

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.