
Summer is the cruelest season. If you’re like me, you spend the rest of the year looking forward to the hot-weather months, purely based on the fantasy that this year — THIS year –will surely bring the margarita-fueled windsurfing excursion you’ve always envisioned. Nope. Turns out I still have to go to work. Oh, right, I forgot. All the summer does is make things sweatier. Surf’s up.
The glaring lack of sports on TV doesn’t help things, either. But one thing I’ve discovered in recent years is the NBA summer league. It’s not exactly the Western Conference finals, but it is pro basketball, and does contain the extra drama that can only come when guys are playing for careers in the field of playing sports.
This summer, Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne all made summer league rosters. Vasquez, of course, is on solid ground after being drafted 28th to the Memphis Grizzlies. Hayes and Milbourne, meanwhile, are going to sing for their supper in Washington and Atlanta, respectively, according to a report from Ridiculous Upside. Given Washington’s guard surplus, Hayes may be playing for game tape footage, although given Washington’s penchant for signing ex-Terps, and GM Ernie Grunfeld’s penchant for white-guy guards, I’m not gonna say die just yet. As for Milbourne catching on, that’s a total crapshoot as far as I can tell.
Here are the schedules for each team’s summer league games. Select games will air on NBA TV (noted by asterisk below, or check full schedule here). All games are available through NBA Broadband, although it costs $14.95, so F that. I’ve already circled July 12 on my calendar, when Vasquez’s Grizz collide with Milbourne’s Hawks. The paparazzi are gonna be swarming for that one.
Memphis Grizzlies/Vasquez: 7/12 vs Atlanta, 7/13 vs Milwaukee*, 7/15 vs D-League, 7/16 vs Minnesota*, 7/18 vs San Antonio
Atlanta Hawks/Milbourne: 7/12 vs Memphis, 7/14 vs San Antonio, 7/15 vs Milwaukee, 7/17 vs D-League, 7/18 vs Minnesota
Washington Wizards/Eric Hayes: 7/11 vs Golden State*, 7/12 vs Clippers*, 7/15 vs Dallas*, 7/16 vs New Orleans*, 7/17 vs New York*