DeAndre Ayton seemed to have the perfect strategy to win the NBA 2K20 Players-Only Tournament. He picked teams with varied styles in order to match up well with opponents. And because he could use a given team only once while making his way to a projected championship, he made sure to choose in the moment judiciously. And, indeed, he wound up tapping the Lakers and Bucks in his last two games. He had already used the Rockets, Clippers, Suns, and Nets en route, leaving him with the two powerhouses and the Jazz and Pelicans against real-life teammate Devin Booker in the finals.
There’s no question that Ayton’s extremely comfortable with an Xbox One controller in his hands. And he’s not just a videogame buff. In fact, he’s a longtime NBA 2K diehard, going so far as to enjoy developer Visual Concepts’ latest iteration via its MyCareer Mode and likewise engaging opponents online. In other words, he’s comfortable customizing settings and fiddling with sliders, hallmarks of serious players with serious intentions. Which was why he found himself counted among the pre-event favorites, and why he sported a spotless record heading into the finals.
There was just one problem, though. As good as Ayton was, Booker proved even better with all the marbles on the line. His Lakers lost to the Rockets 72-62 in the first contest of their best-of-three affair, and his Bucks bowed to the Nuggets 74-62 in the second. It’s fair to argue that he could well have emerged victorious with a larger sample size given his immense familiarity with the vagaries of NBA 2K20. That said, his opponent’s gaming background and comfort level with the title’s preferential option for a five-out style cannot be overemphasized.
Still, Ayton has cause to hold his head high. If nothing else, he managed to wax noted trash talker Pat Beverley in the semifinals, and by using seemingly inferior teams to boot. First, he went with the Nets against the Celtics, ignoring the pregame “walk in the park” boast his opponent threw at him. The set-to was close all the way, and he trailed by three after three quarters. He buckled down to work in the crunch, however, and scored 24 the rest of the way to prevail 75-69. Next, he got his very own Suns and, properly hyped, proceeded to school the Nuggets. The 74-67 final score wasn’t reflective of how dominant he was — starring, of course, his videogame self.
If there was anything the tournament showed, it was this: Beverley is a nasty frontrunner and a sore loser through and through. He literally walked out after being beaten, leaving the good-spirited Ayton flummoxed but, no doubt, only too happy to put him in his place. He gets major props for entertainment, but zero credit for his attitude. The friends he tapped to help him and give him advice throughout the tournament should have reminded him of the value of sportsmanship. There’s a reason gamers stay away from his ilk; being competitive is one thing, and being unable to take as much as he can dish out is quite another.
Speaking of sportsmanship, Ayton certainly had it in excess no matter who was up against him and regardless of the stakes. In the finals, he even allowed Booker to pause the proceedings beyond the allowable number of times. And he isn’t really into verbal jabs; his mutterings are more for self-motivation. Granted, he’s not always on the mark. For instance, he declared that the Suns are “the best team in 2K right now.” He also didn’t seem to know how to best play the Bucks, reflecting his lack of practice with them — a glaring mistake for a veteran gamer. Then again, his heart’s in the right place, and his Players-Only Tournament stint will be remembered for it above all else.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
