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Vegas Summer League has cemented the NBA’s foothold in the city and become a staple for both the league and the community. .
Co-founders Warren Legarie and Albert Hall launched the league in 2004 with six teams at Cox Pavilion. It drew an average of 12,199 in 2019.
It slowly snowballed, drawing 16 teams in 2005, 22 in 2007 and eventually all 30 in 2018. It occupies the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion. Games are televised across a variety of platforms.
In addition to a showcase for young players, Vegas Summer League is a meeting ground for the league’s executives, agents and top players.
The G League Winter Showcase also came to Las Vegas in 2018, providing the NBA with a local presence in the summer and winter.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman had hoped to bring an NBA Franchise to Las Vegas, and helped the city get the All-Star Game in 2007.
The league descended on Las Vegas that February, engaging the community with several events and contesting the game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The West won 153-132 and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was named MVP. .
But chaos ensued on the Strip afterward as local police and casino security were overwhelmed by an influx of visitors. More than 400 were reportedly arrested.
Goodman said the weekend was “disastrous,” but the game itself and the events in the community were very positive.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is responsible for one of the most iconic sporting moments in Las Vegas history.
The Lakers star center emerged as one of the NBA’s marquee scorers from time he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969.
He spent the first 14 years of his career scoring and scoring and scoring, tracking down former Lakers legend Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 31,419 points to become the league’s all-time leading scorer.
The Lakers played the Utah Jazz at Thomas & Mack Center on April 5, 1984, and Kareem needed 21 points that night to eclipse Chamberlain.
He scored 22 before a sellout crowd, passing Chamberlain for good with a skyhook — regarded the most unstoppable shot in NBA history. .
Abdul-Jabbar finished his career with 38,387 points to go with six NBA championships and six MVPs. He is still the all-time leading scorer and lauded as one of the game’s all-time greats.

The Utah Jazz played 11 games at the Thomas & Mack Center in 1983-84, introducing Las Vegas to professional team sports. .
The team’s owner, Sam Battistone, sought to increase regional support for the Jazz, who’d yet to make the playoffs in four seasons in Utah.
The Jazz had the best season in franchise history, finishing 45-37 and qualifying for the NBA Playoffs. Adrian Dantley and Rickey Green were both All-Stars. The team won its first-ever playoff series.
The Jazz played two more home games in 1984-85, but left Thomas & Mack for good afterward.