NBA players coming together for a 2K20 video tournament

In an effort to bring basketball back to fans around the world and to help those in need, the NBA will offer the NBA 2K Players Tournament starting tonight at 7:30 PM ET. The tournament features 16 NBA players facing off on Xbox One in four rounds over the next 8 days.

The NBA is continuing an ongoing effort to stay connected with their fans, while helping those affected by the coronavirus. The NBA 2K20 champion will be crowned next Saturday and will select a charity to receive a $100,000 donation from 2K, the NBA and the NBPA in support of ongoing coronavirus relief efforts.

Based on players’ seeding players will go head-to-head online in NBA 2K20. Seeding is determined first by NBA 2K rating, second by tenure. It all starts tonight as players compete in a single-elimination, player-only tournament with top-seeded Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets taking on 16th seed Derrick Jones Jr., from the Miami Heat. Every tournament game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2, while also streaming on the ESPN App, NBA.com, the NBA App, and 2K and NBA social channels. The matches can be found on Twitter, Twitch, Youtube and Facebook under @NBA2K or @NBA.

And in an effort to keep starved sports bettors interested, sportsbooks worldwide will be offering odds and betting on the event. Unfortunately, we could not find any posted odds at any of the licensed U.S. sportsbooks, but all of the top online sportsbooks do have numbers posted.

Here are the current head-to-head odds for the NBA 2K Players Tournament from industry leader BookMaker.

And BetOnline.ag is taking it a step further by offering not only player matchup bets, but also props for the tourney. Bettors can wager on which player to score the least points in the first round, which conference (East or West) will have more players advance to Round Two, and of course, the NBA 2K20 champion. 

ESPN starts it all tonight with the NBA 2K Players Tournament Preview Show at 7, followed by the Durant vs. Jones Jr. matchup at 7:30 PM. The series continues on ESPN2 Sunday afternoon, Tuesday, April 7th, with the Semifinals and Finals scheduled to air on Saturday, April 11th (times are TBA) on ESPN.

NASCAR, the NFL and other major sports are all trying to stay connected with fans with the eSports-type tournaments. Keep you eye out for more to watch and wager on in the coming weeks.