Locking Out Las Vegas
Photo by kenlund from Flickr
The most talented players bring the biggest egos, and that’s why something really cool might come out of the latest lockout summer league, first reported by HOOPSWORLD on Monday night: a two-week exhibition involving teams composed of about 70 players affiliated with Impact Basketball, one of the big-time offseason training destinations for NBA players.
Only NBA guys will play, and Impact, which is organizing the league, hopes to run two games per day over two weeks in Las Vegas starting in mid-September, according to HOOPSWORLD. Impact is still working out the logistics and the rosters. An official from Impact was not immediately available to speak with SI.com on Tuesday morning. John Wall, Paul Pierce, Rudy Gay, Monta Ellis, Kevin Garnett, Tyreke Evans, Rajon Rondo and Josh Smith are among the potential participants HOOPSWORLD cites because of their ties to Impact.
via The Point Forward » Posts Another summer league? Better than nothing «.
“Basketball in Vegas.” If you read those three words and didn’t immediately get excited and nod in agreement, you’re either:
1.) Under the age of 21.
2.) Imaginary.
Las Vegas is a basketball fan’s paradise, lacking in only one thing for most of the year – actual basketball. Any one of the major sports books would be enough to slake even the most die-hard fan’s thirst for as many games as possible, and Vegas gives you a smorgasbord of them from which to choose. Want to enjoy the game with a cold beverage? They’ll bring them to you while you scream at Vince Carter on a 90″ plasma television; if you choose to place a friendly wager or two, the drinks are “free!”* Feel like poking fun at a poor fan of a team that barely has a record worse than yours? You’ll find people from all over the world in Vegas. You can even scream nonsense at a group of tourists who may or may not be from China about ”Yao Ming” being Chinese for “Sam Bowie!” In Las Vegas, you’re not just a basketball fan who knows everything – you’re a f—ing copy of Rosetta Stone!
*(Price of drink does not include loss of car payment to the smiling teller behind the counter eager to take your bet on your favorite team to win it all).
In years past, the NBA Summer League has made Vegas the place to be during the off-season. Sure, the presence of actual basketball during our schedule-induced fasting helps, but the city herself sounds her own sirens call. No one wants to be outside (unless you’re by a body of water or walking, drink in hand, from one casino to the next on the Strip) in the sweltering Nevada heat, and basketball offers a communal experience indoors, in the air conditioning, and the chance to see players trying to learn the game or make it back from the brink. Sure, you had to take in the games at the Thomas & Mack Center, a building that was too small for a minor league hockey team two decades ago, but that’s Vegas. It’s like someone combined the NIT and basketball rehab in a cocktail shaker, then poured the concoction into the middle of the desert. You deal with the sleaze in order to have a blast.
While Jared Dudley (who’s pimping the league out on twitter in typical JMZ-fashion) and the rest of the players involved with Impact may not offer the most compelling or competitive games on the planet every night out, the fact that they’ll use NBA rules and instill some semblance of order is refreshing. Maybe we won’t see sets run deep into the shot clock or Kevin Garnett-like intensity on the defensive end of the floor, but at least we’ll get our customary basketball in Las Vegas.
You might not want to live there, but it’s a hell of a place to go to see a game. And if you’re not a fan of Vegas or of basketball in the city, then you can take it up with Kareem.
Oster-Tags: basketballinvegas, jareddudleyisnewmedia, thomasandmackcenterblues
