While the biggest sports story in Southern Nevada on Tuesday was Davante Adams being traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New York Jets, the announced crowd of 16,907 at T-Mobile Arena didn’t seem to care.
The Los Angeles Lakers were in town for their annual preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, and there was plenty of excitement in the air.
A few warm-up dunks by LeBron James, along with his famous pregame chalk toss, got the crowd going.
James’ missed windmill dunk just a few minutes into the game drew some cheers, but his two-handed dunk at the 7:15 mark in the first quarter made the crowd roar with approval. The NBA had returned, even if just for one night.
“Las Vegas has proven to be an excellent sports town,” coach JJ Reddick said after the Lakers (1-3) lost 111-97 to Golden State (5-0). “I know that whether it’s been the hockey team, WNBA team, or the NFL team, there’s a nice following.
There’s obviously a lot of things to do. It’s a place that people like to come visit.”
Sitting courtside behind the Warriors’ bench was Los Angeles Sparks star Dearica Hamby with her daughter Amaya and teammate Rae Burrell, while undefeated super lightweight Emiliano Vargas sat directly behind James on the Lakers’ bench.
“It’s incredible, you know, they don’t get this experience often outside of Aces basketball, so to say,” Hamby said during halftime. “So I think the city shows up when they get the opportunity to support basketball in Las Vegas.”
Burrell, who grew up in Las Vegas, mentioned that many people outside the city thought her hometown was just The Strip and the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.
“But it was really The Strip – and sports,” Burrell said. “If you were in sports, you kind of knew everybody in Vegas. So just seeing it all come to life and all these teams getting added, I know the city is just so excited.”
The connection between the NBA and Las Vegas goes back even further than Burrell’s childhood. It arguably started during the 1983-84 season when the Utah Jazz held 11 “home” games at the newly built Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV’s campus.
On April 5, 1984, while the Lakers were in town to face the Jazz, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the highest scorer in NBA history at that time, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain’s 31,419 points.
The Lakers began playing preseason games in Las Vegas in 1988. In 2007, when the NBA All-Star Game took place in Las Vegas, the late Kobe Bryant was named MVP after leading the Western Conference to victory.
The NBA Summer League has been held in Las Vegas since 2007, with games also played on UNLV’s campus.
“Vegas, we just love our sports. Even during the national anthem, you heard the (NHL’s Golden) Knights fans sing the part where they yell ‘NIGHT!’ I mean, it’s just amazing,” Burrell said. “There’s just always so much support in Las Vegas.
So, just having preseason games and in-season tournament games in Vegas, adding that stuff, just shows the support that is in Vegas. So I think it’s just amazing, and I think it’s just getting better and better.”
Although a formal process for expansion is still years away, NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned Las Vegas and Seattle when discussing future plans in July.
With the potential for league expansion, which would make the NBA a regular part of each season, Warriors star Draymond Green believes Las Vegas will always have its appeal.
“It’ll never wear off,” Green said. “It has not worn off since (Frank) Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., back in the 60s. Basketball or football or baseball or anything else is only going to add to that.
I think what you see with Vegas is a shift from the entertainment that Vegas has once seen, to sports.
“You got all the sporting events coming. Boxing has been doing it for years. Dana White, the job that he has done with UFC – absolutely incredible. The job Mark Davis has done with the Las Vegas Raiders and with the Las Vegas Aces – amazing.
This is an amazing place. I don’t think you’ve ever heard many people complain about having to come to Vegas. And so I don’t think it loses its allure at all. I think, actually, the legend grows.”
