NBA Summer League in Las Vegas starts Friday

With the chance to catch up to eight games in a day while wondering back and forth between the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, the NBA Summer League has become an event not to be missed by locals.

And there are again compelling reasons to attend this year’s event, which begins Friday and lasts through July 17 with 24 teams taking the two courts.

The first day begins with the buzz of the Los Angeles Lakers and their first-round draft pick, point guard Lonzo Ball, facing the Los Angeles Clippers at 5:30 p.m. at the T&M. His outspoken dad, LaVar, probably will be in the building.

But they aren’t the entire story.

Each team is guaranteed to play at least five games — three scheduled games and two more in a tournament that begins Wednesday. The teams will be seeded based on victories, points and quarters won, and the top eight seeds will receive first-round byes.

The Chicago Bulls won the title last year, defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 84-82 before an announced crowd of 8,847 at the Thomas & Mack. Attendance went past 100,000 for the 11-day event for the first time.

Friday’s schedule

More NBA Summer League: Follow all of our NBA Summer League coverage online at reviewjournal.com/summerleague and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.