LAS VEGAS — MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2019 will tip off today at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The 15th NBA Summer League will feature top picks from NBA Draft 2019 presented by State Farm and other emerging young players. Today’s 10-game schedule will include a matchup between New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and New York Knicks guard-forward RJ Barrett – the Nos. 1 and 3 overall picks in NBA Draft 2019 presented by State Farm, respectively – at the Thomas & Mack Center (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Below are numbers pertaining to MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2019 and the event’s history:
- 30: All 30 NBA teams will compete at MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2019, marking the second consecutive year that the entire league will be represented.
- 2: The Chinese and Croatian National Teams will give the NBA Summer League two international teams for the first time and bring this year’s number of participants to 32. Team China previously played in Las Vegas at NBA Summer League 2007. Team Croatia will make its NBA Summer League debut.
- 83: Every NBA Summer League game will air live on television, with ESPN networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and NBA TV combining to televise a record 83 games over 11 days.
- 43: ESPN will present 43 games on its linear television networks. The ESPN App will also feature every game from Las Vegas for a fourth consecutive year.
- 40: NBA TV will air a record 40 games, beginning with the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League opener when the Croatian National Team meets the Detroit Pistons today at 3 p.m. ET.
- 7: This marks the seventh consecutive year that NBA Summer League will culminate with a championship game, to be played on Monday, July 15 at the Thomas & Mack Center (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
- 5: Each team will play at least five games at NBA Summer League as many as seven games.
- 10: Ten of the last 14 Kia NBA Rookies of the Year have played at NBA Summer League:
Chris Paul (2005-06), Brandon Roy (2006-07), Kevin Durant (2007-08), Tyreke Evans (2009-10), Blake Griffin (2010-11), Damian Lillard (2012-13), Andrew Wiggins (2014-15), Karl Anthony Towns (2015-16), Malcolm Brogdon (2016-17) and Ben Simmons (2017-18).
- 1: Rui Hachimura became the first Japanese-born player to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft when the Washington Wizards picked him ninth last month. Hachimura is scheduled to make his NBA Summer League debut against Williamson and the Pelicans on Saturday, July 6 at the Thomas & Mack Center (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
- 5: The last five players to win the Kia NBA MVP Award – Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant – are NBA Summer League alums.
- 2018: NBA Summer League 2018 set a record for total attendance (139,972) for the second consecutive year; matched the single-day attendance record (17,500), which was established in 2017; and was the most-watched NBA Summer League ever, with ESPN and NBA TV combining to amass 30.4 million hours viewed. Fans across social media platforms also set a record for a second consecutive year by accounting for more than 565 million video views, an increase of 35 percent.
- 47: Anthony Morrow holds the NBA Summer League single-game scoring record of 47 points, accomplished for the Golden State Warriors against the then-New Orleans Hornets on July 16, 2009.
