Written by Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
LAS VEGAS – Nineteen years old, a source of constant improvement, with a wingspan wide enough to embrace the NBA, its stars, its hopefuls and fans of the game around the globe.
That description fits Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs rookie and the league’s Next Big Thing. In this case, though, we’re talking about the NBA 2K24 Summer League that tipped off its 19th season in Las Vegas on Friday and runs through July 17, a total of 11 days in which it reigns as the center of the basketball universe.
Where else can someone vacationing in a desert city step inside from blinding sunlight and scorching temps into a cool arena, blink from the stands at the familiar NBA logo, then see the legend after whom it was modeled, Lakers great Jerry West, sitting courtside? Not only West, but at various times Hall of Famers past, present and future such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Isiah Thomas, LeBron James, and assorted active All-NBA players.
Where else can the entire league – players, coaches, scouts, referees, executives, staffers – convene during the offseason to work, sure, but also to network, dine, golf, gamble and otherwise socialize at this sliver of time each year when so many of these tightly wound competitors legitimately are able to relax?
What happens in Vegas, as it turns out, can ripple through the NBA’s 30 markets all season long.
He came through for the league, its ESPN TV partner, and the event organizers, too. There had been four sellout sessions in Las Vegas Summer League history prior to this year; there were three more this weekend.
LVSL is the brain-child of co-creators Warren LeGarie and Albert Hall. The former was and is an agent for coaches and players, the latter was a young employee of the Seattle SuperSonics 30 years ago working the front desk of the team’s new practice facility. They met when new coach George Karl asked Hall to pick up his agent at the airport and told him to look for the “surfer dude.” That was LeGarie.
The pair worked together off and on for the next decade, clicking as business partners and friends. “Albert and I are kind of ‘Why not?’ people rather than ‘Why,’” LeGarie said Saturday, pausing for an interview during a matinee game.
Click the following link to read the full story from Steve Aschburner on NBA.com: From LeBron to Wembanyama, how Summer League has evolved over past 20 years
