NBA Las Vegas Summer League Keeps Evolving Into Milestone 20th Anniversary
By Katie Ann McCarver, Las Vegas Sun
The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League kicked off in 2004 with just six teams as a way to keep growing the league and the brand during its offseason.
Southern Nevada was a natural epicenter for the event with the proper medical and training facilities, direct flights from everywhere and a slew of entertainment and restaurant options according to Albert Hall, co-founder of the NBA Summer League.
“Just the amenities of doing business in Las Vegas, people were open and receptive to it,” Hall said. “Not at first. We had to educate everybody that it was real basketball — real NBA. But once we did that, then we saw some of the hotel properties get involved, some of the restaurants. The bus and shuttle companies all saw, ‘Hey, this is good business for us.’”
Twenty years later, the Las Vegas Summer League has now grown to include all of the NBA’s 30 franchises, each of which will bring a team of up-and-coming players starting this weekend at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion.
The 76-game competition begins today and runs almost constantly through July 21, before a championship finale at 6 p.m. July 22.
The tournament has grown in a variety of ways, not only as a sporting event but also for Las Vegas’ business, entertainment and hospitality sectors.
Nearly every league executive, coach and power-player now travels to Summer League to not only take in the games but also network and meet with each other.
During a tour Thursday of the Thomas & Mack Center before the games began, Hall showed off a dedicated space where meetings will take place between franchise owners and constituents. Sports Business Classroom students from across the country are invited for the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the industry.
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