Summer League future uncertain

The clock was winding down inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Sunday and Mark Tyndale had the distinction of taking the final shot of the 2010 NBA Summer League.

He made it count as his 40-foot desperation heave went in to give the D-League Select a 79-78 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

It might be the last Summer League shot taken for quite a while.

With the final session of the 10-day event in the books, it's watch-and-wait time for the organizers and fans who flock to Cox Pavilion and the Thomas & Mack every July.

The NBA and its players are attempting to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement. While the math to reach a deal is somewhat complicated, this equation is simple: The current deal expires June 30, 2011. If there's no agreement by then, there's probably not going to be a Summer League in July.

The word "probably" is in play because the NBA might try to strike a separate deal to allow the Summer League to continue unabated should talks to reach a new agreement fail by the time the league is scheduled to tip off for its eighth season in Las Vegas.

"We're not ready to talk about that yet," said NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, who heads the league negotiating team. "We're 100 percent focused on trying to get a deal done."

The NBA is pleased with the growth of the Summer League in Las Vegas. Attendance was at an all-time high this week with 40,799 fans showing up, an average of 4,079 per session, a 10-percent increase over 2009.

A lot of it had to do with the presence of high-profile rookies John Wall of Washington and DeMarcus Cousins of Sacramento along with young and popular veterans O.J. Mayo of Memphis, Darren Collison of New Orleans and JaVale McGee of the Wizards.

"We couldn't be happier with the Summer League in Las Vegas," Silver said. "We had a record number of teams participating. NBA TV provided wall-to-wall coverage, no pun intended. It's a great partnership and we would hate to lose the momentum and all the goodwill we've built.

"It would be one of many casualties that would be caused by a work stoppage."

But there might be a way to preserve the Summer League if there is a lockout. D-League players are not impacted by the CBA. Neither are free agents, and players from Europe who have not signed with an NBA team.

The idea of bringing foreign teams to Las Vegas to make up a bulk of the Summer League next year isn't that far-fetched. In 2007, the Chinese National Team participated in the summer league and went 1-4.

For the past couple of years, there had been discussion of bringing in an all-star team from the Euroleague to play in Las Vegas.

If an amended Summer League were held, it might be pushed back to August. Thomas & Mack director Daren Libonati said the flexibility is there to hold the Summer League either month.

"As long as it's before school starts," Libonati said Sunday.

But the NBA doesn't want to think about a Plan B right now. Silver said there are always contingency plans for everything the league does and that planning for next year's Summer League already is under way.

"The best-case scenario is we reach an agreement with our players before June 30 and it's business as usual (in Las Vegas)," Silver said.

All fans can do is hope there will be labor peace come next July.

"It means a lot more to me," said Bill Johnson of Citrus Heights, Calif., a Sacramento Kings fan and longtime season ticket-holder. "I have terminal bladder cancer and I come here to forget about everything and I also use it as an annual marker.

"I've been coming here the last four years and each year, it gets a little harder. But I love it. I even schedule my chemo treatments around the Summer League.

"It would be real disappointing to me if they didn't have it next year."

Portland Trail Blazers fans Larry Muller and his wife, Georgia, have been making the trip to Las Vegas from Oregon since the Summer League began in 2004. The idea there would be no league next year doesn't sit well with them.

"It would be a disaster for us," Muller said. "This is our vacation. We could go anywhere we want, but we love coming here, seeing all the games and watching all the players."

His wife said: "This whole thing is like an extended family. We've made so many friends here over the years. Even opposing players and coaches know us."

Muller said when he sees the kind of money free agents have commanded this month, he's not optimistic a deal will be reached in time for next July.

"It's too early to get a confidence level yet," he said. "They're still posturing. But it will be detrimental to the sport if there's a work stoppage.

"Besides, what would I do in the summer?"

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.