NBA superstar Kevin Durant came to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in July 2016 to launch his new shoes, the KD9’s.

Rather than a small event attended by a few, the ambition was to create a revolutionary event format that maximized reach and genuine fan engagement with the superstar.

KD issued his challenge: to play with China's top NBA2K Online player in the game and on the court, creating the world's largest basketball tournament.

463,000 players answered the challenge, all competing in the virtual tournament for a chance to play Kevin Durant head on.

Gao Yang, the final winner, represented China in a live broadcast match up against KD, where the two players squared off in a best of three formats.

The entire event was live streamed on China’s largest online sports channel, Tencent NBA, as well as broadcast directly to pinnacle digital out-of-home locations across Guangzhou.

Throughout the broadcast, KD interacted with Nike Club members online, answering questions, sharing insights on his training methods, and even introduced a virtual pair of KD9’s, his brand new shoes, into the game.