NBA 2K20: NBA To Host Players-Only Tournament Amid Hiatus

The NBA 2019-20 season is facing an uncertain future due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, that doesn’t mean fans cannot watch basketball while the whole world is in quarantine and practicing social distancing.

On Monday, it was revealed that the league is planning a players-only NBA 2K tournament, which will start on April 3, Friday. It will reportedly be broadcasted by ESPN, with the event lasting for 10 days.

While initial reports cited that all 30 teams will be required to field a representative, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports later clarified that only 16 players will participate in the event. DeMarcus Cousins, who was previously waived by the Los Angeles Lakers as he recovers from a torn ACL, is one of the participants of the tournament.

Full details of the tournament are yet to be released, but the plan should be an exciting development for players and basketball fans in general after nearly three weeks without NBA action.

The league announced the suspension of the season on March 11 after Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. Since then, players and fans practiced self-quarantine, with video gaming the only escape they have.

The NBA 2K League, which was supposed to start their new season this March, was also postponed and is currently working for feasible solutions on how and when they can push through their latest campaign.

An NBA 2K20 tournament is definitely intriguing for athletes, especially since more players are streaming their games live on Twitch. In fact, Slam even organized a Call of Duty competition composed of a majority of NBA players, along with some pros and special guests.

The NBA 2K series is unarguably the most popular basketball video game ever. Developed by Take-Two Interactive, the game has been growing strong ever since its first game was introduced in 1999.

NBA 2K18 and NBA 2K19 reportedly have a combined 19 million copies sold. Meanwhile, the latest iteration NBA 2K20 had a strong start and is now well on its way to having one of the best releases in series history.

NBA 2K20 – which had Anthony Davis (standard edition) and Dwyane Wade (legend edition) as its cover athletes – reportedly sold more than 8 million copies in just its first five months of release.