Written by Tom Friend, Sports Business Journal

LAS VEGAS – The NBA2K24 Summer League might be glorified rookie ball, but no one here would have guessed it. This year’s games generated sellout crowds and gridlock traffic, validating Commissioner Adam Silver’s claim that the Sin City event is the NBA’s “31st franchise.’’

Unconfirmed reports suggest the NBA has seen enough and will award Las Vegas an expansion team in the near future. If that happens, this year’s summer league likely cemented it.  The buzz here began with the grand entrance of No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, whose debut game filled every crevice of UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center. Meanwhile, the NBA Con festival down the street at Mandalay Bay—which drew a logjam of 25,000 people —literally staged an impromptu SRO Wembanyama Watch Party at its faux New York City park.

“Summer league is the heartbeat of the NBA right now,’’ said Joey Graziano, the NBA’s head of event strategy and development. “It’s truly a mega global tentpole event on par with anything that exists with a sports league. Fans are putting this on their calendar saying, ‘We’re not going to miss July in Las Vegas with the NBA.’ ’’

From the $2.3 billion LED-laden basketball sphere that lit up the Las Vegas night to the televised in-season tournament pairings to Trae Young, Kyrie Irving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar roaming the strip to every key NBA executive attending a Board of Governors’ meeting — the Las Vegas summer league is tantamount to a league convention. The NBA version of the baseball’s winter meetings.

Click the following link to read the full story from Tom Friend on Sports Business Journal: Summer League again a rousing, growing success for NBA in Vegas