How to watch Trae Young play in ESPN’s NBA 2K Players Tournament tonight

With no March Madness, can I interest you in a bit of April Absurdity? The NCAA basketball tournament is canceled and the NBA season is on hold, but hoop fans can fill the roundball void with a virtual NBA 2K20 tournament. And not just any NBA 2K tournament you might find on Twitch. For one thing, 16 current NBA players, including former MVP and recovering coronavirus patient Kevin Durant, signed on to play. For another, it’s broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2.

Read more: Phoenix Suns continue season on NBA 2K20

The quarterfinals start tonight, Thursday, April 9, at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) and a champion will be crowned on Saturday, April 11. 

NBA 2K Players Tournament matchups and results

Following the standard March Madness script, the NBA 2K Players Tourney saw its share of first-round upsets. Top seed Kevin Durant got bounced by No. 16 seed Derrick Jones Jr. while No. 14 seed Patrick Beverley upset No. 3 seed Hassan Whiteside and No. 13 seed Rui Hachimura knocked out No. 4 seed Donovan Mitchell.

In other action, Trae Young (2) coasted by Harrison Barnes (15), Devin Booker (5) topped Michael Porter Jr. (12) and Andre Drummond (6) destroyed DeMarcus Cousins by 52 points. Montrezl Harrell (8) beat Domantas Sabonis (9) and, in a slight upset, Deandre Ayton (10) beat Zach LaVine (7).

Players were seeded based on their NBA 2K20 rankings. (Ties in rankings were broken by NBA tenure.) 

Here are the quarterfinal matchups for the NBA 2K Players Tournament:

In addition to bragging rights, the winner of the tournament will receive $100,000 from the NBA, NBA2K and the National Basketball Players Association to give to a charity of his choice to support coronavirus relief efforts.

NBA 2K Players Tournament schedule

Each player has a pool of eight NBA teams from which to choose, but they can use each team only once during the tournament. Here’s the broadcast schedule for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals:

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals will be played on Thursday, April 9 at 7-11 p.m. ET (4-8 p.m. PT) on ESPN2.

• Rui Hachimura vs. Devin Booker, 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT)
• Derrick Jones Jr. vs. Montrezl Harrell, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
• Trae Young vs. Deandre Ayton, 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT)
• Patrick Beverley vs. Andre Drummond, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT)

Semifinals and finals

The semifinals and finals will be played on Saturday, April 11 at 3-7 p.m. ET (12-4 p.m. PT) on ESPN.

How to watch the NBA 2K Players Tournament

As well as ESPN and ESPN2, you can watch the tournament on the ESPN App, NBA.com and the NBA App. Plus, you can stream the games on the @NBA and @NBA2K YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook pages.

You don’t need cable or satellite TV to watch the tournament on ESPN and ESPN2. Both channels are offered on four of the five major live TV streaming services.