It is no secret that Las Vegas is now a mecca for hoops with the NBA Summer League, exhibition games, major AAU tournaments, the Runnin’ Rebels, NCAA conference tournaments, the 2023 Sweet 16 and more. But what is more of a secret is that NBA players, coaches and executives love Vegas in the summer … for the golf. –By Brian Hurlburt, excerpted from SI.com/golf.
“We found out very early in our history that golf was a commonality among many of the people coming to Las Vegas, and for several years we hosted a golf tournament and it was great,” said Albert Hall, NBA Summer League co-founder. “It was well attended, but it is very hot, so we pivoted off that that idea. But even without an official event, we are always being asked to assist with tee times. There are a lot of diehard golfers who play nearly every morning. We have served as a quasi-golf concierge over the years. Guys like Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, J.R. Smith and a lot of others play pretty much every day. We have held events or helped get tee times at DragonRidge, Bali Hai, Top Golf and many other courses.”
Former Runnin’ Rebel and current television analyst Greg Anthony played golf a few times while in town, including at the historic Las Vegas National Golf Club. A more official event was the the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) inaugural charity tournament at The Las Vegas Country Club that was held on the first Monday of Summer League. The time slot was perfect because many of the players were already in Las Vegas for the Summer League.
Check out the complete story at this Sports Illustrated Golf link as written by LasVegasGolfInsider.com founder Brian Hurlburt.
Photo: Jalen Rose, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Grant Williams are pictured at the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Foundation golf invitational in July. Courtesy NBPA