The NBA’s summer league in Vegas is basically summer camp for basketball junkies. It occupies a bizarre niche in basketball fandom that’s built entirely around the idea that all dunks are equally valid and exciting, regardless of whether they’re pulled off by superstars or D-League benchwarmers-to-be. Bloggers, coaches, would-be scouts, and the occasional group of supporters make their way to a pair of gyms on the UNLV campus and get to see a group of desperately hungry players trying to impress their way into somebody’s heart. The games themselves, of course, serve mostly as backdrops for individual moments of brilliance. They’re on NBA TV, but there’s so much missing from the summer league experience in television. There are secret joys of the summer league that make it unlike any basketball experience on the planet, and I have to share them with you.

Read full article: Grantland: Tales From the Summer League