It’s no secret that the fashionable NBA considers itself a year-round product. The endless calendar continues with the opening of the NBA Summer time League in Las Vegas subsequent week, just some weeks after the NBA Draft and conclusion of the NBA Finals.
We’re nonetheless per week out, however the free company onslaught is lastly slowing down sufficient to increase some consideration to the upcoming version of an annual staple.
Stepping Stone or Final Ditch Effort
This 10-day stretch (July 10-20) gives followers with their first alternative to observe the incoming rookie class in NBA motion, and it additionally serves as essential developmental floor for a lot of second-year gamers. Not solely that, for gamers on the fringes of the league, a strong week-and-a-half within the sizzling gyms of the Thomas & Mack Heart and Cox Pavilion could possibly be what will get you signed for the upcoming season.
If you happen to’re a lottery choose, you’re most likely hoping to simply play just a few video games to get your sea legs within the league earlier than you get deactivated as a way to concentrate on the upcoming season. For a participant on the fringes, you higher hope you stick round for the entire 10-day stretch, championship recreation included. And also you actually need to be a key contributor.
Extra Than Hoops
Past the on-court hoopla, no pun supposed, Summer time League additionally serves because the premier networking occasion for the NBA. From media to scouts to coaches to gamers, the piping sizzling hub within the Southern Nevada desert turns into the capital of the basketball world in mid-July. To not point out the truth that nearly each NBA govt price their salt stops by for at the very least a fast stint.
Summer time League is the one week on the NBA’s jam-packed calendar the place it actually seems like everybody concerned with the league, no matter stature, is there. Followers in attendance get to rub shoulders with a few of their favourite gamers as they stroll via the concourse between gyms, as a result of there are not any VIP escorts at The Mack. The luckiest of followers might even run into an NBA celebrity at one of many many resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, an expertise I’ve had greater than as soon as round this time of yr.
Hit or Miss
Yearly isn’t a success. Final yr, for instance, the largest story from Summer time League centered across the participation of Bronny James, who was drafted with the fifty fifth total choose. This season, with probably generational prospect Cooper Flagg within the wings, you may most likely count on at the very least just a few days of big-time ticket gross sales.
Victor Wembanyama was a big-time attract 2023, however the all-time attendance file for a single Summer time League nonetheless belongs to 2018. That yr was headlined by Luka Doncic and Trae Younger but in addition featured the debuts of some under-heralded prospects on the time who grew to become superstars within the coming years in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Brunson.
Opening Evening
July 10, the primary evening of Summer time League, is actually a kind of marquee slates. The primary total choose Flagg will make his skilled debut in opposition to Bronny James and the Lakers within the first recreation of a nationally-televised back-to-back on ESPN that can conclude with No. 2 total choose Dylan Harper making his debut in opposition to No. 3 total choose VJ Edgecombe and the Philadelphia 76ers.
📢 #NBA Programming Replace:
July 10, @ESPNNBA will current an @NBASummerLeague doubleheader ft. the Mavericks debut of @Cooper_Flagg in opposition to the Lakers & Bronny James⁰🏀 8p ET | @dallasmavs vs @Lakers🏀 10p ET | @spurs vs @sixers pic.twitter.com/XwQ1lbCoUv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 27, 2025
These are simply two of seven video games on Summer time League’s opening day. The NBA champion Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder might be in motion at 5:30 pm EDT in opposition to the Brooklyn Nets on the Thomas & Mack Heart, whereas the Japanese Convention champion Indiana Pacers will tip off in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers a half-hour earlier at 5 pm on the Cox Pavilion.
