NBA Summer League’s 11-Day Stay in Las Vegas Winding Down, Last Game Monday
By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
It’s Sunday, the second to last day of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The 11-day pro hoops extravaganza that began with two 17,500-ticket sellouts the first two days at Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion July 5 and 6 is winding down with smaller crowds.
“It’s a little quiet today,” said the Summer League intern guarding the tourney trophy displayed on the Thomas & Mack concourse.
Sunday’s attendance dropped to 7,359 after Saturday’s announced attendance of 11,347. Attendance drops when the Lakers and marquee rookie players are done at the Summer League
Attendance during the first 10 days is 126,109 this year. Last year’s 11-day Summer League drew attendance of 139,972. The Summer League will have to draw at least 13,864 fans Monday for the title game if the NBA wants a Las Vegas Summer League record.
The Grizzlies played the Pelicans in a semi-final game at 3 p.m. and there was no Zion Williamson to juice the crowd. Memphis led New Orleans, 66-56, after three periods, with second-year player Grayson Allen of Memphis scoring two points on one for six shooting in 14 minutes and 46 seconds.
There were three reporters in the downstairs media room after it was packed a week ago with media, especially dozens of media members from China and Japan to cover the Chinese national teams and Japan’s Rui Hachimura, a former Gonzaga player now with the Washington Wizards who played in Las Vegas only four months ago during the West Coast Conference basketball tournament.
LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are no longer around the NBA Summer League.
Even the usher at the media section no longer doles out fist bumps. He’s drinking coffee at section 112, where there are media tables set up behind one of the basketball goals in Thomas & Mack.
One of the fan favorites during the week was any appearance by seven-foot, seven-inch Tack Fall of the Boston Celtics. The former University of Central Florida player received a roar of cheers each time he stepped on to the hardwood.
The NBA uses the 11-day event to experiment on technology innovations for broadcasts. During Sunday’s two semi-final games, the NBA used a “Supra” camera — a skycam on two cables running just outside the court.
The Grizzlies-Pelicans game had an entertaining finish. The Pelicans went ahead by three points with a few seconds left in the game, but a Grizzlies player made a three-point shot to tie the score at 81 and the teams played a two-minute OT. The Grizzlies ended up winning, 88-86 in OT with Allen finishing with four points and five fouls.
In the second game, the Brooklyn Nets played the Minnesota Timberwolves, but lost to the Wolves, 85-77. Monday’s 6 p.m. championship game matches the Wolves against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The action tuckered out this fella, who found time to take a nap last week.
Even the babies in the Sunday Nets-Wolves baby crawl halftime race had more energy than the napper.
MGM Resorts International scored a lot of media play and exposure thanks to its Summer League title sponsorship. MGM Resorts would love to have an NBA team play at T-Mobile Arena, but LVSportsBiz.com believes an NBA team will not be in Las Vegas until 2024 at the earliest.
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