ESPN’s quest to fill broadcast times typically reserved for live sports has led them down a few different paths. One is playing to nostalgia in the form of past sporting events and even WrestleManias, as well as playing classic Disney sports movies. Another is pushing up the highly anticipated The Last Dance documentary, which features 10 hours of interviews and never before seen footage of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls.
Finally, they’re diving into the world of eSports a bit more, most notably with an NBA 2K20 tournament featuring 16 NBA players playing 1-on-1 games against each other. That tournament tips off on Friday night (April 3), with Kevin Durant and Trae Young as the top seeds on opposite sides of the bracket.
Make your bracket predictions
1⃣ Save/edit the bracket on your phone
2⃣ Reply w. bracket & #NBA2KTourneyWe’ll be on the lookout
pic.twitter.com/mttrNSRzIn
— NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 1, 2020
Offshore bookmakers have released odds on the tournament, and while Durant and Young are the top seeds, they are not at the top of the odds sheet right no. Sportsbetting.ag and Bookmaker.eu both have released odds and, as of writing at 3 p.m. ET, their odds vary wildly. At Bookmaker, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton are co-favorites at +450, followed by Donovan Mitchell (+847) and Durant (+850). At Sportsbetting, Booker is a +350 favorite followed by Durant at +400, Ayton at +650, and Young at +800.
All of this is to say, if you’re planning on betting on this 2K tournament, shop your odds because they vary wildly from book to book. The one point I will make is that, given how The Action Network’s 1-on-1 tournament has played out on 2K, the big men have an advantage if they use their size correctly. Full odds from both sites can be found below.
Devin Booker +350 (SB)/+450 (BM)
Kevin Durant +400 (SB)/+850 (BM)
Deandre Ayton +650 (SB)/+450 (BM)
Trae Young +800 (SB)/+1500 (BM)
Donovan Mitchell +900 (SB)/+847 (BM)
Hassan Whiteside +1000 (SB)/+1300 (BM)
Rui Hachimura +1200 (SB)/+1100 (BM)
Andre Drummond +1600 (SB)/+1548 (BM)
Pat Beverley +1600 (SB)/+1337 (BM)
DeMarcus Cousins +1800 (SB)/+1023 (BM)
Zach LaVine +1800 (SB)/+1100 (BM)
Harrison Barnes +2000 (SB)/+1200 (BM)
Michael Porter Jr. +2000 (SB)/+1548 (BM)
Montrezl Harrell +2000 (SB)/+1337 (BM)
Derrick Jones Jr. +2200 (SB)/+1200 (BM)
Domantas Sabonis +2250 (SB)/+2084 (BM)