2K, taking a lead from EA Sports and its massive Madden NFL Esports tournaments, announced its second NBA 2K tournament. The NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament will begin on Dec. 31 on PS4 and Xbox One, with the finals taking place during NBA All-Star weekend in February.
The NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament will feature five qualifying rounds that will determine who will move through the tournament. Teams, whose players must be at an Elite level or above, will be able to play in any of the qualifying rounds with totals from these games contributing to a team's score on the overall leaderboard. In order to qualify for the tournament, players must set up a Pro-Am team with at least two other players on that team.
The three teams with the highest point totals on each day of the qualifying rounds on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will move on in the tournament. Here are the dates of the qualifying rounds, beginning on Dec. 31.
Qualifying Round 1: Saturday Dec. 31, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT
Qualifying Round 2: Saturday Jan. 7, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT
Qualifying Round 3: Saturday Jan. 14, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT
Qualifying Round 4: Saturday Jan. 21, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT
Qualifying Round 5: Saturday Jan. 28, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. PT
2K also introduced Wild Card spots for the NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament. The team on each console that has the highest single game day score across all five qualifying rounds that did not qualify will get into the Sweet 16 of the tournament by picking up the final spot in each console’s tournament. After getting into the Final 16 of the tournament, the tournament moves into the quarterfinals and into the finals. Here are the dates for the most crucial parts of the tournament.
Rounds 1 and 2: Saturday Feb. 4, 12 p.m.- 5 p.m. PT
Console Semifinals and Finals: Saturday Feb. 11, 12 p.m.- 4 p.m. PT
The finals of the NBA 2K17 All-Star Tournament is set for NBA All-Star weekend in New Orleans on Feb. 17. The grand prize winning team will receive $250,000, tickets to the 2017 NBA All-Star at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans and the fame that comes with being the second ever NBA 2K tournament winner.
“NBA 2K16 Road to the Finals proved that our fans have an appetite for competitive gaming, and we are excited to deliver another opportunity for Pro-Am teams to go head-to-head during the new All-Star Tournament,” said Alfie Brody, VP of Marketing for NBA 2K. “Thousands of teams participated in our NBA 2K16 Road to the Finals competition, and we expect this tournament to attract great talent and inspire more of the intense action we witnessed in the first.
