NBA players-only 2K tournament to feature KD, Boogie and Trae Young

UPDATE: March 31 — ESPN and the NBA have announced the event, which will begin Friday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and run until 8:30 before transitioning to ESPN2 until 11 p.m. ET. Here’s the full schedule:

• Friday, April 3, ESPN, 7-8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2 8:30-11 p.m. ET
• Sunday, April 5, ESPN2, 12-4 p.m. ET
• Quarterfinals: Tuesday, April 7, ESPN2, 7-11 p.m. ET
• Semifinals/Finals: Saturday, April 11, ESPN, Time TBD

The winner of this tournament will receive $100,000 that will be donated to charity to support coronavirus relief. Here’s a statement from 2K:

“We’re thrilled to partner with the NBA and NBPA to bring basketball back to fans throughout the world and to help those in need during these uncertain times,” said Jason Argent, 2K senior vice president, sports strategy and licensing. “Entertainment, especially sports, has the ability to bring communities together — including athletes, fans and families — and we hope that everyone will enjoy the tournament.”

UPDATE: March 31 — The latest on this is pretty huge news. Kevin Durant and Trae Young will headline a 16-player 2K tourney, per Yahoo. Here’s the full breakdown of the brackets.

(1) Kevin Durant vs. (16) Derrick Jones Jr.
(2) Trae Young vs. (15) Harrison Barnes
(3) Hassan Whiteside vs. (14) Patrick Beverley
(4) Donovan Mitchell vs. (13) Rui Hachimura
(5) Devin Booker vs. (12) Michael Porter Jr.
(6) Andre Drummond vs. (11) DeMarcus Cousins
(7) Zach LaVine vs. (10) Deandre Ayton
(8) Montrezl Harrell vs. (9) Domantas Sabonis

This is the NBA’s attempt to bring about some normalcy during tough times. The tourney will happen over a 10-day period, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo, and it will all begin on Friday on ESPN. We are unsure of how many games will be Friday night and what the TV schedule is, but we’ll keep an eye out.

In an attempt to thwart the stoppage of basketball, the NBA is planning something big. The League wants to host a players-only NBA 2K tournament, per Yahoo Sports.

This tournament could potentially feature some of the top players in the NBA. We’re talking big names, people. Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the past two NBA 2K cover athletes. The event will be broadcasted on ESPN and is expected to be announced on Friday, per the report.

So AD and The Greek Freak are just a few of the names that could potentially be involved. We also don’t know what type of format the tournament would be using. Will it be a handful of NBA superstars in a bracket style tournament? Do I smell April Madness emerging? Or will we just see NBA players go head-to-head in NBA 2K in best-of-3 series? How long will they try to stretch things out? Whatever is the case, we know that it could be an opportunity to A) help some people out and B) open up a new DFS and betting market in the short term.