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Opinion

EDITORIAL: Hammon highlights NBA Summer League

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
July 9, 2015 - 11:01 pm
 

The NBA Summer League has become an annual must-see affair on the Las Vegas calendar, putting a national spotlight on the city at a slow time of year and just a couple of weeks after the NBA Draft. The tournament-style event is in its 12th year at the Thomas &Mack Center and the adjacent Cox Pavilion, and its growth has been tremendous, going from six teams in 2004 to 24 teams this year.

As has been the case the past couple of years, more than 60,000 fans are expected to turn out over the course of the Summer League, which begins today and continues through July 20. But the benefits go far beyond an often jam-packed Cox Pavilion for each day’s slate of games and the respectable crowds at the more cavernous Thomas &Mack. The Summer League creates a huge national buzz that in turn creates tremendous value for Las Vegas. ESPN and NBA-TV will both have a strong presence at this year’s tournament, and highlights will surely be splashed all over “SportsCenter,” as they have the past week from the NBA Summer League events in Orlando and Salt Lake City.

But this year’s Las Vegas stop has a little more intrigue, courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs. Becky Hammon is coaching the Spurs’ Summer League team, becoming the first female head coach in Summer League history. Ms. Hammon knows a little about making history, becoming the first female full-time assistant coach in the NBA when the Spurs hired her prior to the 2014-15 season, following her highly successful 16-year WNBA career.

If this were the Philadelphia 76ers or Sacramento Kings, you might be able to tout Ms. Hammon’s presence as a marketing gimmick. But this is the San Antonio Spurs, a team with five NBA titles in the last 16 years, including the 2014 championship. The Spurs are the model of professionalism. Ms. Hammon wouldn’t have been hired as a full-time assistant, nor would she have the reins of the Summer League team over the next 10 days, if she didn’t deserve it and couldn’t help develop players and win championships.

This is an opportunity to see someone who has rightfully broken through a glass ceiling. Don’t miss it. The Spurs open play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against the New York Knicks.

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