LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 18: NBA player Donovan Mitchell attends the The 2018 ESPYS at Microsoft Theater on July 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell selected for players only 2K tournament
Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz has been selected to play in a 2K tournament with 15 other NBA players. The winner will donate to the charity of his choice.
As the NBA hiatus continues, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell continues to be active on social media and playing NBA 2K20. He played Ronnie Singh, one of the directors of the video game, last week and gave the Jazz one of their only wins on 2K since the season was suspended.
He’s been active on Twitch, a live streaming service for not just NBA 2K but other video games as well, being able to interact with some fans and answer their questions. But unlike anything else before, there will be a bigger event this time with the NBA officially teaming up with NBA 2K.
There will be a players’ only tournament, where 16 NBA players are bracketed based off their individual 2K rating.
https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/1245412921712074752
As you can see, Mitchell is the fourth seed in the bracket, and will be taking on Rui Hachimura of the Washington Wizards in the first round. If he wins, he will take on the winner of the match-up between Devin Booker and Michael Porter Jr.
The way this works is each player can select eight current NBA teams to use during the tournament. They can only use each team once, however.
The winner of the entire tournament will select the charity of his choice to receive 100 thousand dollars, coming from the NBA, the NBPA, and NBA 2K.
It will be interesting to see how far Donovan Mitchell goes. I was impressed he was able to beat the man they call Ronnie 2K, while playing as the Utah Jazz. My bet is that he selects some of the better teams in the league, including the Jazz.
If I were him, I would open the first round playing as a second tier team such as the Toronto Raptors or Boston Celtics, one that probably wouldn’t have made the NBA Finals but gone pretty far in the NBA playoffs.
Then I’d save teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Clippers for the very end, depending on how far he goes. ESPN will be airing the tournament, starting on Friday afternoon at 1:00 Mountain Time.
Whether or not Mitchell deserves to be seeded higher is a different discussion (he definitely should be higher than Hassan Whiteside), but regardless I’m excited to see this virtual action live on ESPN.
