Summer league offers a peek at potential

USA TODAY, July, 2008 by Andrew Alberg

Gail Hunter is quick to correct people who mistakenly refer to the NBA's 4-year-old league for young players as the "Las Vegas Summer League."

After all, the NBA put its name on the event for a reason -- to keep the brand relevant throughout the year. Playoffs lead directly to weeks of draft hype, which are followed by free agent signings and the NBA Summer League.

"The goal is to provide fans an inside look to future stars ... as a continuation to the regular season," says Hunter, the NBA's senior vice president of events and unofficial summer league commissioner. "We felt it's important to brand this important time in our players' career."

The league, running from Friday until July20, is also a chance for younger veterans to work on their games...