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Lakers: Las Vegas Summer League schedule announced

By Jason Reed

Jan 1, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram (14) holds on to a rebound in front of Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Raptors won 123-114. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram (14) holds on to a rebound in front of Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) in the second half of the game at Staples Center. Raptors won 123-114. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA Summer League has given a spotlight for young NBA players to shine. With the league starting in three weeks the Lakers schedule has been released.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ first three NBA Summer League games have been announced. For those of you unaware with the NBA Summer League, it is a special tournament that the NBA holds every year. Nothing else in sports quite matches it.

Other professional leagues do have similar offseason leagues, but nothing quite like this. The MLB has the Arizona Fall League, and outside of that, there is not much else. The Arizona Fall League gets nowhere near the same amount of attention as the NBA Summer League as, well, it just isn’t that interesting.

The NBA Summer League is not your ordinary preseason, in fact, it is not preseason at all. Every NBA team has their rudimentary preseason games, running throughout October. The teams will play each other alongside some foreign teams, much like MLB teams do with college teams during Spring Training.

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Instead, this is something entirely different. Dating back to 2001, the NBA Summer League has given the young guns in the NBA a place to shine. With three different tournaments, in Orlando, Las Vegas, and Utah, there is plenty of spotlight to be shared.

The Orlando League, the original league that started in 2001, currently has ten teams participating. Las Vegas has 24 teams participating, and Utah has four. The Lakers play in the Las Vegas League, going undefeated last season.

The teams play three games and then get seeded based on record and point differential. Then all 24 teams enter a win or go home playoff bracket. The first or second place teams could play up to eight games in total.

This year, the Lakers are to square off against three rivals; the Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, and Sacramento Kings.

David Nwaba, Ivica Zubac, and Brandon Ingram will join the Lakers 2017 draft class to play in this summer tourney. Regardless of how the team plays in the first three games they are guaranteed at least five games played.

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For those NBA fans that are already itching and scratching for more basketball, the NBA Summer League is perfect. The league is fun, energetic, and can help pass some time during the long five month stretch without regular season basketball.

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