NBA Summer League

NBA Summer League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2018 NBA Summer League
Sport Basketball
Inaugural season Orlando: 2001 (defunct in 2018)
Las Vegas: 2004
Utah: 2015
Sacramento: 2018
No. of teams Utah: 4
Sacramento: 4
Las Vegas: 30
Country United States
Most recent
champion(s)		 Las Vegas:
Portland Trail Blazers
TV partner(s) NBA TV and ESPN

The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups, including rookie, sophomore and G League affiliate players. The Utah Jazz Summer League also features NBA teams, as did the Orlando Pro Summer League, which operated from 2002 through 2017. Those leagues are sometimes referred to as NBA Summer League when also mentioned with its host location.[1]

History

Summer leagues have existed for decades. Historically, there was not an organized structure, with leagues sometimes overlapping and not officially coordinated.[2] In 2004, the league held the Las Vegas Summer League for the first time; it is by far the largest league, with 24 teams participating as of 2017. The Orlando Pro Summer League has been held since 2001. The Utah Jazz Summer League began play in 2015, replacing the Rocky Mountain Revue, an event held from 1984–2008 before going on a lengthy hiatus due to declining participation.

The leagues generally consist of a handful of games per team. Unlike regulation NBA games, which are 48 minutes long, games only last 40 minutes (same as in FIBA/WNBA), plus multiple 5-minute overtime periods (first overtime is played in its entirety; true sudden death thereafter).[3] Before the 2013 leagues, no official champions were named at any league, with the leagues focusing more on individual auditions and development. Champions are currently named for the Orlando and Las Vegas leagues, although team performance is generally not emphasized.

Unsigned free agents are often signed to summer league deals, providing a chance to possibly be signed to a contract during the regular season. Any team can sign the free agent after the league is over, not just the one he played for in summer league. For example, Jeremy Lin, a Harvard graduate, was invited to play for the Dallas Mavericks summer league team despite being undrafted earlier in the year. In the 2010 summer league, Lin performed well and was later signed by the Golden State Warriors.

Las Vegas Summer League

The Las Vegas Summer League played its inaugural season in 2004 University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)'s arena, the Thomas & Mack Center with six NBA teams – Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards – playing a total of 13 games. With Warren LeGarie leading the way, the summer league had three successful summers in which participation increased to 16 teams playing more than 40 games at UNLV. In 2007, the NBA attached its name to the event, making it the “NBA” summer league.[4] In 2008, the summer league expanded to 22 teams and was sponsored by EA Sports. As of the summer 2015 season, Samsung is the sponsor and the official sponsored branding is the "Samsung NBA Summer League".[5] Since 2018, all NBA teams play in the Las Vegas Summer League in the typical tournament style.

Utah Jazz Summer League

From 1984 until 2008, the Utah Jazz hosted a tournament known as the Rocky Mountain Revue. Launched as a community outreach campaign to encourage interest in the Jazz in the summer of 1984 under the direction of Jazz public relations staffers David Allred and Kim Turner,[6] initially the league operated as a three-week, pro-am league in July with alumni players from Utah, BYU, Weber State and Utah State. In 1990, after sending a team to the California Summer League the previous summer, Scott Layden, then the Jazz's director of basketball operations, invited the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings to join the league and moved to an all-NBA format. Over the course of the next 20 years, as few as four teams (1990) and as many as 16 teams (1998), participated, including the first International entry, Burghy Roma.[7] The league did not play games during the 1999 strike-shortened season. In 2008, the NBA Development League had a D-League Ambassadors team. The Rocky Mountain Revue also showcased the Iranian national team.

Games were hosted at Westminster College (Salt Lake City), East High School (Salt Lake City), Delta Center and the Revue's final home, Salt Lake Community College. The Revue was known for its popularity, evidenced by sold out crowds each time the Jazz played. The Revue was one of the first NBA summer leagues to feature NBA officials, as the NBA used the league for referee development and training. The only NBA teams that did not send a team to the Revue at least once were the Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards.

Due to declining participation, the event was cancelled for the 2009 season.[8][9][10][11] However, the Jazz confirmed in November 2014 that they would revive the league for 2015, albeit with a smaller number of teams participating.[12] The event would include the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs as well as the Jazz in a six-game, four-day event.

Orlando Pro Summer League

The Orlando Pro Summer League began in 2002. Its games were closed to the public and could only be seen on television.[13] It named a champion for the first time in 2013 with the Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Houston Rockets 85-77.[14][15] On July 11, 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers won the 2014 Orlando Summer League championship with a 91-75 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.[16] The Dallas Mavericks were the champions in 2017.[17] The league ended after 2017 due to the trend of NBA teams participating in the Las Vegas league.[18]

California Classic Summer League

On May 6, 2018, reports surfaced that to replace the position previously held in Orlando by the Magic, the Kings would host its own Summer League event in Sacramento.[19] The event is scheduled to take place before the Las Vegas Summer League begins, with the teams in place for the event involving the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and Miami Heat. Eight days later, the Kings confirmed that their own Summer League event (titled the California Classic Summer League) would take place from July 2-5, 2018 (taking a day off to celebrate the Fourth of July), replacing the Orlando Pro Summer League. On May 14, 2018, the Sacramento Kings confirmed that report. [20]

Las Vegas MVP winners

Year Nat. Player Pos. Team
2012
United States
Damian Lillard (co-MVPs)
PG
Portland Trail Blazers
United States
Josh Selby (co-MVPs)
PG
Memphis Grizzlies
2013
Lithuania
Jonas Valančiūnas
C
Toronto Raptors
2014
United States
Glen Rice Jr.
SG
Washington Wizards
2015
United States
Kyle Anderson
SF
San Antonio Spurs
2016
United States
Tyus Jones
PG
Minnesota Timberwolves
2017
United States
Lonzo Ball
PG
Los Angeles Lakers
2018
United States
Josh Hart
SG
Los Angeles Lakers

Champions

Year League Champion Score Runner-up League MVP Championship MVP
2013 Orlando Oklahoma City Thunder 85–77 Houston Rockets Jeremy Lamb[note 1]
Las Vegas Golden State Warriors 91–77 Phoenix Suns Jonas Valančiūnas Ian Clark
2014 Orlando Philadelphia 76ers 91–75 Memphis Grizzlies Elfrid Payton[note 1]
Las Vegas Sacramento Kings 77–68 Houston Rockets Glen Rice Jr. Ray McCallum, Jr.
2015 Orlando Memphis Grizzlies 75–73 (OT) Orlando Magic (White) Aaron Gordon[note 1]
Las Vegas San Antonio Spurs 93–90 Phoenix Suns Kyle Anderson Jonathon Simmons
2016 Orlando Orlando Magic (White) 87–84 (OT) Detroit Pistons Arinze Onuaku[note 1]
Las Vegas Chicago Bulls 84–82 (OT) Minnesota Timberwolves Tyus Jones Jerian Grant
2017 Orlando Dallas Mavericks 83–81 (OT) Detroit Pistons Dwight Buycks[note 1]
Las Vegas Los Angeles Lakers 110–98 Portland Trail Blazers Lonzo Ball Kyle Kuzma
2018 Las Vegas Portland Trail Blazers 91-73 Los Angeles Lakers Josh Hart K.J. McDaniels

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Orlando Summer League only awards one MVP.

References

  1. ↑ "NBA Summer League". InsideHoops.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ Zwerling, Jared. "Vegas Baby, Vegas: How Warren LeGarie Made Sin City NBA's Summer League Hot Spot". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "2014 Las Vegas Summer League: Game Rules, Format and Tie-Break Criteria". NBA official website. National Basketball Association. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Zwerling, Jared. "Meet the NBA's King of Summer". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Release, Official. "Tomorrow's stars to shine bright at Samsung NBA Summer League 2015". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "NBA.com". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Utah Jazz Media Guide 2002-2003
  8. ↑ Jazz cancel 2009 Rocky Mountain Revue, KSL.com, May 1, 2009
  9. ↑ "InsideHoops.com - Rocky Mountain Revue". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "NBA.com: 2010 NBA Summer League schedule". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Rocky Mountain Revue canceled for 2009". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Utah's Rocky Mountain Revue NBA summer league may return". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Robbins, Josh (November 18, 2017). "Magic will play in NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2018 and end their Orlando league". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Thunder at Rockets". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "Summer League Recap: Thunder vs. Rockets - THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "76ers at Grizzlies". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "Mavericks win Orlando Pro Summer League - Official Website of the Dallas Mavericks". The Official Site of the Dallas Mavericks. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  18. ↑ "Orlando Magic will no longer host summer league". NBCSports.com. Associated Press. November 20, 2017. Archived from the original on November 20, 2017.
  19. ↑ https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2018/05/nba-planning-summer-league-tournament-in-sacramento.html
  20. ↑ "Kings to Host California Classic Summer League at Golden 1 Center". Retrieved 14 May 2018.
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