Vegas Summer League Kicks Off Today And It's The Perfect Time To Be Wildly Irrational About Your Favorite Team

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

While the California Classic and the Salt Lake Summer League do a nice job of scratching the basketball itch and serve as a good appetizer of summer hoops, there's absolutely nothing quite like the Vegas Summer League. The NBA world all heads to Vegas for a week or so like it's the All Star Break, and truly it's an event that any basketball/NBA fan should experience. I say it every summer and I'll say it again. If you've never been, do yourself a favor and go.

Yes, it's hot as hell. I'm talking about every single day you're going to be dealing with 115+ degrees with no clouds in sight. But that's why air conditioning exists. Yes, you're going to lose all your money if you gamble, but that's part of the fun. For my money there's nothing better than showing up for the first games of the day and then spending the next 12+ hours walking back and forth from the Thomas & Mack Center to the Cox Pavilion (the way better venue/experience IMO) where you not only get to people watch and see NBA star after NBA star which is pretty crazy, but also a full day of basketball is basically the dream. Sure the product may be gross at times, but that's the beauty of Summer League basketball.

There's just something fun about being able to see the next wave of NBA stars play their first games at this level

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and the overreactions that come from these games are all part of the fun. Remember when Wemby was dragged like crazy for his first Summer League game stinker? The internet was throwing out takes left and right that could not have aged worse, but that's what this time of year is for.

If you're a fan who is excited about the young prospects on your favorite team this summer, it's important to remember the #1 rule when it comes to Summer League. Anything good/awesome you see is 100000% going to translate to the real games, and anything bad you see is something you can immediately ignore because these games are fake. It's the perfect win/win experience as a fan and partly what makes this week so much fun. 

Being insanely irrational over the young lottery pick on your favorite team because he does some cool shit in Vegas is what it's all about. The one thing I've noticed after years of going to this event is you can absolutely tell right away who belongs and who doesn't. I don't really know how to explain it, but when you see it you know. Especially if the games are in the smaller gym/court in the Cox Pavilion. People will try and hate on you for being excited about your favorite team, but I am firmly in the "fuck those people" camp when it comes to Summer League. Go nuts! Embrace the irrational confidence and use it as a way to get through the dog days of summer.

You never know, sometimes things actually work out and the young Summer League stars on your favorite team turn into NBA Champions

Maybe you're a team that missed the Play In but showed potential last year and you're hoping the new lottery pick your team added last month is going to be the thing that gets you over the hump and into the playoffs. Maybe you're interested in seeing the Year 2 or Year 3 leap of some young guys on your favorite team to see if they might be ready to actually take a leap and make an impact this season. That's what this week is for.

A great example of this would be a guy like Keyonte George with the Jazz. Only in Year 2, he made it pretty clear that he's on the verge of taking a leap for the Jazz during the Utah Summer League last week

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and it's no surprise the Jazz already shut him down for Vegas. That's the best-case scenario you want to see as a fan. So while these games technically don't count, it's a great way to see just how ready the young guys are. If you're a Year 2 or Year 3 guy and you aren't clearly dominating? That's not great. But if your team shuts you down early because you're clearly a cut above, that's when as a fan you should truly allow yourself to think dangerous thoughts. 

This all also means we're one step closer to the start of the 2024-25 NBA season, which after this crazy summer is shaping up to be one hell of a year. You combine Summer League with Team USA and the Olympics later this month, and in my opinion it doesn't get much better than that.