Pro Hoops Fans Flock To NBA Summer League Day 2 In Las Vegas Friday; Attendance At 14,139
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Combine the Woodstock of professional hoops with a spring training ambiance and you have the NBA Summer League, which has taken over the Thomas & Mack Center and adjoining Cox Pavilion for 11 days this month.
Friday was the second day of the July 7-17 professional basketball fiesta, with fans shelling out $40 for general admission that buys you an all-day pass to watch continuous NBA exhibition games in the arena where the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels play and the smaller pavilion.
UPDATE: Friday’s attendance was 14,139. Event organizer Albert Hall said of returning to pre-pandemic attendance numbers, “We’re hopeful to get back to 2019 but not there yet.”
All 30 NBA teams are running out lineups filled with freshly-drafted rookies and young players aiming to make a name for themselves, with fans escaping Las Vegas’ furnace heat and pouring into Thomas & Mack Friday.
Lots of ex-NBAers, coaches, scouts and agents walk the arena concourse with common fans wearing replica jerseys bearing the names of NBA stars like “Frazier,” “Thurmond,” and “James.”
LVSportsBiz.com even bumped into the colorful “Birdman” himself, Chris Andersen, the former six-foot, ten-inch NBA player known for his tattoos. Here he is catching a Bulls-Mavericks game from behind one of the goals.
Thursday featured an “Influencer” game plus two NBA Summer League contests, drawing attendance of 9,641 on opening day.
Today’s attendance will easily surpass that number as much of Thomas & Mack’s lower bowl was filled for games, while at Cox Pavilion lines of fans snaked out of that smaller gym.
The summer league also offered a high-end NBA EXperience at $199 a ticket with all-you-can eat and drink and a comfortable lounge. That was in addition to a $99 ticket for a food-and-drink deck behind one of the goals.
