UPDATED 4/8, 4:00 p.m. ET: Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the NBA and ESPN are finalizing a deal to air a H-O-R-S-E competition on the network. Chris Paul, Trae Young and Zach LaVine are expected to participate, alongside a "couple of WNBA players and recent NBA alumni.":
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Though its immediate future remains in question, the NBA is doing its best to find ways to keep fans entertained.
After kicking off its player-only NBA 2K tournament on Friday, the league will reportedly treat fans to a televised game of H-O-R-S-E featuring "high-profile players," ESPN reports. Sources shared the news with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday, who reports that the competition would be a collaborative effort between the NBA and ESPN.
The details of the event have not been finalized, but participants are expected to play remotely, going shot-for-shot against their competitors. There's currently no indication of which players would take part in the competition, though having a home gym would theoretically be a requirement. Sorry, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
According to the New York Post's Andrew Marchand, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell, and Zion Williamson might all be included, though none have been confirmed.
The NBA suspended its 2019-2020 season last month in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. There was some initial hope that the season would resume with an abbreviated postseason, but that seems increasingly unlikely as the virus continues to spread. ESPN's Brian Windhorst shared some insight on what the league's next steps might be—and it doesn't look good.
"It is clear that the NBA is angling to set up a deal that enables them to shut the season down," Windhorst said Friday on SportsCenter. "They don’t have to do that yet. The way they’re negotiating, they’re leaving an option either way. But they’re not having talks about how to restart the league. They’re having financial talks [regarding player salaries] about what would happen if the season shuts down. I think there’s a significant amount of pessimism."
