The semifinals and final of the 16-player NBA 2K Players Tournament on ESPN took place Saturday with the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker facing the LA Clippers' Montrezl Harrell in one semifinal and the Suns' Deandre Ayton taking on the Clippers' Patrick Beverley in the other one.
Here's a look at some of the banter, trash talk and viral moments from the matchups.
Read more: NBA 2K Players Tournament predictions | When watching NBA stars play video games is the only game in town | Rating the NBA 2K Players Tournament participants' gamer setups
Final
Devin Booker vs. Deandre Ayton
Game 1: Booker (Houston Rockets) 72, Ayton (Los Angeles Lakers) 62
Game 2: Booker (Denver Nuggets) 74, Ayton (Milwaukee Bucks) 62
Booker to the camera after winning the tournament: "Anybody who think they can play 2K. Let's get it."
Booker to Ayton, who was making moves with Giannis Antetokounmpo late in Game 2 even though it was a blowout: "This is over with. Why you acting like you still have a chance?"
"Get off the zone. Man up, this the NBA."@DevinBook with some words of wisdom for @DeandreAyton in the #NBA2KTourney �� pic.twitter.com/YS90dmbi5i
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 12, 2020
Ayton after picking the Bucks in Game 2: "Giannis, I need you."
Booker replied: "Stop begging to the game ... let him play ... stop begging."
Booker calling on Ayton to pick the Bucks in Game 2: "Go get the Bucks! I want the Bucks."
Booker after taking a 10-point lead with under two minutes to go in Game 1: "This Houston, baby! The pace don't stop!"
"hE DOn'T liKE GeTtINg DOuBlE TeAmED!" @DevinBook isn't worried about the double �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/v64FxBvU1W
- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 12, 2020
Booker after Ayton paused the game again: "Can I get some extra pauses?"
Ayton, laughing: "Wait what?"
Booker: "Can I get some extra pauses?"
Ayton after hitting a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the first half of Game 1: "That's cash."
Booker, incredulous, just starts laughing and then says: "Ay man, you funny, bro."
"You got to be out there 30 on the clock man. You gotta be on the court."@DevinBook was trying to get @DeandreAyton for delay of game �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/zRnymRLIB3
- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 12, 2020
Semifinals
Patrick Beverley vs. Deandre Ayton
Game 1: Beverley (Boston Celtics) 69, Ayton (Brooklyn Nets) 75
Game 2: Beverley (Denver Nuggets) 67, Ayton (Phoenix Suns) 74
Ayton, after winning Game 2 and eliminating Beverley from the tournament with the Suns: "I had to show [Beverley] what's up with the Suns. ... I think [the Suns are] the best team in 2K right now. ... [Ayton noticed Beverley wasn't onscreen anymore] ... He walked away???"
Ayton, after scoring with himself, continuing a great game with the Suns and as himself: "Aaahhhhhhhhhh! Come on, man. Turn me up. They gonna have to put some respect on my name!"
Ayton, after throwing an alley oop to Ayton in the game: "Aayyyee! That's what I be doin'! Is that me? That gotta be me man!"
Ayton and Beverley had the following exchange after Ayton hit consecutive 3-pointers with Suns guard Jevon Carter:
Ayton: "We got 3 3's in a row from Jevon Carter. You ask who he is, that's valley boy No. 4, that's the bulldog, man!"
Beverley: "You don't even know this man. ... Look, you don't even know! What's his Instagram?"
Ayton: "I do, I do, I do. ... His name is Jevon Carter. I don't know his Instagram @ name, come on."
Beverley: "You gotta know this! You're captain of your team, you gotta know this!"
Ayton: "... I gotta know his IG tag?"
Beverley: "Yes. You supposed to know his IG tag, his favorite food, if he goin' through a bad stretch, take him you go get a meal, you gotta know this!"
Ayton: "I do know the rest ... just not the gamer tag."
Deandre dunks with 2K Deandre ���� pic.twitter.com/WhYbxdXMll
- NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 12, 2020
Beverley to Ayton when he picked the Suns instead of the Bucks or Lakers: Oh you a gangsta, gangsta! I like you! ... Yeah, I needed that, too. I see how you roll!
Ayton after winning Game 1: "Good game, my guy. That was a close one, my hands still sweatin'."
Beverley, quiet during most of the game, saw an advantage before the fourth quarter of Game 1: "I think I found something. ... I think I found something. ... We 'bout to see. ... We 'bout to see."
"How perfect can you be, Pat?"
-Pat Bev talking to himself again �� pic.twitter.com/XDcfxWOOEo
- NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 11, 2020
Devin Booker vs. Montrezl Harrell
Game 1: Booker (LA Clippers) 68, Harrell (Houston Rockets) 54
Game 2: Booker (Toronto Raptors) 65, Harrell (Milwaukee Bucks) 62
Harrell to Booker after he won Game 2 to advance to the final: "Definitely was a good game, brother. I'm glad your internet could actually hold through. Good luck in the final."
Harrell to Booker after the game lagged again: "Do something with your internet, man! Get a router or something!"
"All that money from this game and you got that type of connection." @MONSTATREZZ clowning @DevinBook for his internet connection �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/2yNU9SJBdH
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 11, 2020
Booker: "Come on man let's turn it up in here! I'm sick of playing around with this man. Give this man hope again man, don't give him no more hope!"
"You trying to take off from the free throw line like Jordan." @MONSTATREZZ knows Kyle Lowry doesn't have that in his bag �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/kqbFJQXtWX
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 11, 2020
"You want to just end this one and start the next one?" @DevinBook is trying to get this game over with �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/bTXUdnEDu6
- ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2020
Harrell after landing a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter of Game 1: "I ain't get enough of those up ... too many turnovers."
Booker on blocking Harrell with Harrell in the game: "Trezl, that's how you get paid right there."
"Stop playing with the Klaw, don't you be in practice with him?"
Book off to an early start with Trez's teammate pic.twitter.com/jycLxtLWlB
- NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 11, 2020
Booker, in the second quarter, to probably his entire team: "Why are you shooting 2s, bro????"
Booker after launching the ball from distance to the opposing team under the net: "I threw that to the corner!"
Harrell replied: "Whooaa there big fella!"
Quarterfinals
Devin Booker (Dallas Mavericks) 71, Rui Hachimura (LA Clippers) 55
"I gotta score." -- Hachimura, at least seven times
Booker: "Ref! I'm straight up! I'm about to get a tech, man."
Booker: "Making some midgame adjustments? OK. What's your coach talking about over there? What's coach saying in the huddle?"
Hachimura: "I can't tell you, man."
Coach Book goin off with @luka7doncic �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/65sQ6IUIqI
- NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 9, 2020
Booker decided to intentionally foul while up 15 with less than 30 seconds left. Why, you ask?
"We gotta get the young guys in. We gotta get the young guys some burn."
Montrezl Harrell (Portland Trail Blazers) 71, Derrick Jones Jr (Dallas Mavericks) 66
Harrell had to roast Boban Marajonovic for a rough stretch in the first half. First, a pump-fake drew the him off his feet for an easy layup.
Harrell: "Stay on your feet, Boban. You're 7-3, what you jumping for?"
Two defensive possessions later, all 7-foot-3 of Boban decided on a 7-foot jumper instead of a layup. An educated guess: game AI slipup, not user error.
Harrell: "We'll take all that. Boban shooting jumpers?"
No Mavs bigs were safe, even from the people controlling them. Jones drew a double-team on a drive and kicked to the corner, where ... Willie Cauley-Stein, and his 49 3-point rating, were waiting.
Jones: "What are you doing in the corner, bro?"
And then there was this moment.
Derrick Jones Jr. and Montrezl Harrell started doing commentary for their timeouts ��#NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/umjtszau7G
- ESPN (@espn) April 10, 2020
Deandre Ayton (LA Clippers) 73, Trae Young (Los Angeles Lakers) 66
Ayton: "No way. No way. No way. No way. You're not dunking on me."
Narrator: "He got dunked on. Several times."
"TURN ME UP BRON!"
Trae was hyped after getting a poster dunk with LeBron �� #NBA2KTourney pic.twitter.com/ioLLmFQ7nX
- NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 10, 2020
Ayton: "Remember that McDonald's All American game?"
Young: "I think I beat you a couple times."
Ayton: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."
Young: "This was all we played."
Ayton: "It was 2K, cellphones and social media during AAU ball."
Young: "C'mon, Bron. They be trippin' on Bron's jump shot on here."
Ayton: "Now you wanna go to [Anthony] Davis? That's crazy. I gotta go tell him about this."
Damn 2K��
- Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 10, 2020
Andre Drummond (Milwaukee Bucks) 69, Patrick Beverley (Philadelphia 76ers) 62
Drummond: "When this is all over, what's the first place you're going to if we're not playing no more?"
Beverley: "If we're not playing no more? L.A.
Both players laugh.
Drummond: "L.A. Ain't no better place to be."
Beverley, as his squad came back from a first-quarter deficit: "Ah, I forgot we were on the road. You know how that first quarter goes on the road."
Beverley, almost every time Donte DiVincenzo touched the ball in the second quarter: "What is he doing with the ball? What is he doing with the ball? What is he doing with the ball? WHAT IS HE DOING WITH THE BALL? Man, stop playing."
"What is he doing with the ball" ��
Pat Bev out here straight clampin pic.twitter.com/wQX1UNgPMm
- NBA 2K20 (@NBA2K) April 10, 2020
Drummond: "Who do you usually pick in this game?"
Beverley: "The Clippers."
Drummond: "As you should, as you should."
Beverley: "I hope you're gonna pick Cleveland for the championship."
Drummond: "I am."
Beverley: "Yeah, right."
Drummond: "What you mean? I gotta win one for the city."
Beverley: "You ain't the only one that plays muscle ball, Drummond. There's some little guards that play muscle ball, too."
Watching Patrick Beverley talk trash in the NBA2K tourney makes me want him to be microphoned up every single basketball game.
- Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) April 10, 2020
Drummond: "I wanna curse so bad. You're lucky we're on national TV."
Drummond, after Beverley forced a shot-clock violation: "This man's cold at defense in real life and in the game."
Beverley: "I try to be, man. I try to be."
Beverley: "It was a good game against Drummond, but he weak too. I think he got a little rattled. He started playing a little fast."
Beverley: "Giannis, he's different in this game. He's different in real life, too."
Round of 16
Andre Drummond (Los Angeles Lakers) 101, DeMarcus Cousins (Brooklyn Nets) 49
Drummond: "I might mess around and go Cleveland."
Cousins: "Cleveland? You know something I don't."
Drummond: "Is there a 21 rule in this or do we have to play the whole thing out?"
Cousins: "Chill out, chill out."
Cousins, on Drummond running out of bounds: "I've seen you do that in real life."
Devin Booker (Milwaukee Bucks) 83, Michael Porter Jr. (Los Angeles Lakers) 72
Porter: "What's wrong with your Nuggets?"
Booker: "Naw, I'm setting them up for the chip!"
Porter: "You should just pick the Suns, I'll pick the Nuggets"
Booker: "Aaahhh no!"
Booker: "No sir, we're closed. Oh, we're getting to 'em!"
Because @NBA2K has my player messed up https://t.co/iHpVqugU6n
- Devin Booker (@DevinBook) April 6, 2020
Rui Hachimura (Los Angeles Lakers) 74, Donovan Mitchell (Brooklyn Nets) 71
Mitchell when Joe Harris got switched onto LeBron James: "Yeah I don't think that's the matchup I want ... I love you Joe Harris but nah, that ain't it."
Rui Hachimura got his own waterboy for the #NBA2KTourney �� pic.twitter.com/PLpswVSFDr
- ESPN (@espn) April 5, 2020
My guy @ShamsCharania just said @spidadmitchell missed a GW 3 with me against the @Lakers in @NBA2K ... good thing we know that's not realistic ��
- Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) April 5, 2020
Montrezl Harrell (LA Clippers) 73, Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers) 51
Sabonis after missing a shot as himself in the game: "Oh my God he sucks ... he really sucks."
Sabonis with 2:33 to go, losing 64-43: "Do you wanna play another quarter?"
Sabonis while down by a lot: "I'm gonna propose you a bet ... if I get it down to 10, I win."
Sabonis shooting free throws as himself: "Look how bad they made me shoot free throws ... what is this ... what is he doing? I look like I'm going to trip over when I shoot!"
Harrell: "We found the Hack-a-Sabonis!"
Patrick Beverley on Harrell's win: "My boyyyyy"
Derrick Jones Jr. (Milwaukee Bucks) 78, Kevin Durant (LA Clippers) 62
ESPN's Bomani Jones tweeted: "so i'm checking out a little of this 2k tournament, and what i've learned so far is kevin durant has no respect for what ersan ilyasova brings to the table."
Durant on Ersan Ilyasova: "Hold up, they got Ilyasova out here? Cross back ... get there ... (after Ilyasova makes the steal). Come on man, this is a fluke!"
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Evan Turner said he thought Durant was too old to be competing in the tournament. (He and Durant are both 31.)
@KDTrey5 you know damn well you can't play these 90s babies in video games. Every kid born after 95 is a top chef
- Evan Turner (@thekidet) April 4, 2020
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Deandre Ayton (Houston Rockets) 57, Zach LaVine (Miami Heat) 41
LaVine: "Can I pick the All-Star team? You're gonna go with the Rockets!"
Ayton: "I've been playing 2K since 2K9 ... with KG [Kevin Garnett] on the cover. That's my guy."
While competing against each other Friday, Ayton and LaVine talked about the most recent time they faced each other on the court.
Ayton: "You caught me last game, bro. They called timeout after that, I was like yo, I think Zach just dunked on me."
LaVine: "Aye man, you a big dude, you're supposed to get dunked on every once in a while."
Ayton: "It was quick ... and you jumped off the wrong leg, so I'm waiting for you to take another step ... yeah ... that was kinda crazy."
Caught myself watching this @NBA2K on @espn like it's a real game.
- Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) April 4, 2020
Trae Young (Milwaukee Bucks) 101, Harrison Barnes (Toronto Raptors) 59
Barnes on Dirk Nowitzki: "He was the best, man, he was hilarious. By far the funniest teammate. He worked super hard, and he's a killer on the floor, but he always made sure that he has fun and that everyone around him has fun."
It's crazy... I've been treating today like a game day�� https://t.co/ftDAHn0lZi
- Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 4, 2020
Harrison Barnes wild buns ������ you cant get 40 pieced on national TV bro
- Josh Hart (@joshhart) April 4, 2020
Patrick Beverley (Milwaukee Bucks) 84, Hassan Whiteside (Los Angeles Lakers) 54
Beverley: "Get freaky with it, da da dadada da da. ... I'ma beat him by 30! I'ma beat him by 30!"
Whiteside: "Man, Giannis [Antetokounmpo] is a cheat code, I ain't gonna lie."
Beverley: "It ain't Giannis that's playing, I'm controlling him. So I'm just a cheat code. You can just call me The Cheat Code, I'll take that."
Beverley: "That's how we get busy. Up 10, just had to lock in a little bit, yes sir, he has no business in my game ... no business in my game. Greek, they forgot about you, Greek. Yeah Greek, YEEEAAHHHHHHH! I SMELL IT! I knew it, I was too locked in. I was too locked in."
Beverley after LeBron James' effort to the hoop gets stopped: "Uh uh. This ain't video game James, he got some years on him now, he can't just be jumpin' all over the rim now!"
I'm really watching Whiteside play 2K on ESPN . What has the world come to ��
- CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) April 4, 2020