Indiana Pacers news: Domantas Sabonis will face off in NBA 2K tournament on Friday

Indiana Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis is going to participate in a players-only NBA 2K tournament on Friday.

Indiana Pacers news should get fans excited because their star forward Domantas Sabonis will be playing in a players-only NBA 2K tournament set to air on ESPN on Friday.

No, basketball is not back, but the closest thing resembling since the season was suspended due to COVID-19 earlier this month.

Here are the 15 players that will be participating along with Sabonis:

The first matchup for Sabonis will be against Montrezl Harrell, both players clock in with an 85 overall rating and are seeded at 8 and 9, respectively.

This technically should be the most exciting and closely challenged first-round matchup, but that may not fall to form since 2K rating won’t necessarily line-up with real-life 2K skill for a lot of these players.

Per Yahoo!’s Chris Haynes, the tournament is going to be a 10-day event, enough to hold us over for the time being while we yearn for real-life basketball.

It’s not clear exactly how the tournament will run. Will players play as their own team (I would assume not since there are some crossovers in teams with Deandre Ayton/Devin Booker and Montrezl Harrell/Patrick Beverely)? Will this be a Blacktop 1-on-1 deal? It remains to be seen, but it’s worth checking out.

Sabonis thus far has been spending his time staying in shape with TikTok dances (and probably real workouts, too). This is a must-watch for Pacers fans, and hopefully, he stays in the tournament for as long as possible so we can have something of substance to enjoy.

Though the hiatus is unforeseen and a signal of the tough times our country and world are suffering through, it has paved the way for interesting innovations in the world of sports. The NBA has been ahead of the curve to a degree with E-Sports, having implemented the NBA 2K League years back to complement its real-life action with the tools developed for simulation by NBA 2K.

This will bring some of that to the forefront and show fans just how exciting virtual competition can be.