On Tuesday, the NBA and the NBPA announced a sixteen player NBA 2K tournament to begin on Saturday April 4th Australian time. The winner will have $100,000 USD donated to a charity of their choice. Played on Xbox One, the tournament is a single game elimination format for the first two rounds, with the semi finals and final being a best of three series. Players are seeded by their NBA 2K20 rating (then tenure in the league).
NBA 2K Players Tournament Tips & Preview
The first round matchups:
Kevin Durant (1) vs Derrick Jones Jr (16)
Trae Young (2) vs Harrison Barnes (15)
Hassan Whiteside (3) vs Patrick Beverly (14)
Donovan Mitchell (4) vs Rui Hachimura(13)
Devin Booker (5) vs Michael Porter Jr (12)
Andre Drummond (6) vs DeMarcus Cousins (11)
Zach Lavine (7) vs Deandre Ayton (10)
Montrezl Harrell (8) vs Domantas Sabonis (9)
No doubt NBA fans will be hoping that dunk contest champion Derrick Jones Jr can upset Kevin Durant, whilst there will be plenty of interest around Hassan Whiteside who has spent plenty of years talking up his 2K game.
Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker ($4.50) and Deandre Ayton ($6) come into the tournament as the favourites to take out the prize with BetEasy. Devin Booker has been a 2K athlete for many years and has been a prominent figure in 2K live streams, so it’s not a surprise to see him as the favourite. Hassan Whiteside ($17 with BetEasy) is a solid choice if you’re looking for a value bet.
There’s no doubt Patrick Beverly will be serving out plenty of trash talk, whilst it’ll be interesting to see how much trash talk Kevin Durant will cop from other players.
If you’re looking for a safe head to head bet, look no further than Donovan Mitchell ($1.49 with Sportsbet) to beat Rui Hachimura. Like Booker, Mitchell is a 2K athlete that has displayed his ability on 2K live streams before. Mitchell has stated on his social media platforms that he has spent plenty of his quarantine time on his consoles, so he should be well prepared.
VALUE: Hassan Whiteside $17.00
Devin Booker - Outright Winner
$4.50
