LAS VEGAS — It’s 6pm on July 19th, and I’m sitting along the baseline of the Thomas and Mack Arena to watch the 2026 NBA Summer League Championship.
Cameron Boozer and Yaxel Lendeborg, two of the most intriguing picks from the 2026 draft class, both warm up by their respective baskets as the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies prepare to square off.
The arena is sparsely attended — just days ago, the very same gym was inundated with fans, players, coaches, media, and front office executives — but the fans who are here are thrilled to be here. Dozens of kids wear Warriors jerseys and repeatedly belt out “Yaxel!” during warm-ups. The 23-year-old, No. 11 overall pick has quickly blossomed into a Summer League fan favorite, in part due to his elite on-court play, but mostly because he’s taken the time to wave to, sign autographs for, and chat with more kids than I have ever seen a professional athlete do. (Regardless of city affiliation, I am now a lifelong Yaxel enthusiast. I keep joking he’s the physical embodiment of LeBron’s ‘I can’t believe this is my life’ meme).
For the Grizzlies, Saturday’s title game is much bigger than basketball. Seven years ago, Brandon Clarke won Summer League Championship MVP, and the NBA holds a moment of silence before tip-off in his honor. In May, Clarke tragically passed away at just age 29, and every single Grizzlies coach and staff member dons a ‘BC’ pin in his honor, including Summer League head coach Erik Schmidt, who has worked with Clarke since 2019.
I wish more Grizzlies fans were here to see this, to see how the organization has made sure that every detail in this Summer League title run honors the former beloved Grizzly. But, based on how every single Grizzlies staff member spoke with me about Clarke, I imagine it’s the first of many such odes.
There are so few reporters left in attendance that the NBA asks me to cast a vote for Summer League Championship MVP, an honor I mull over for hours before ultimately selecting Lendeborg after he powered the Warriors to a 94-90 title win. I spent all game thinking about how every player impacted each and every possession, going back and forth in my decision so many times that I had to chase down NBA PR to secure my final vote in the waning seconds. (I’ll never judge a Finals MVP voter again).
As I walk out of the arena, I chuckle. There’s quite literally no reason for a Celtics beat writer to still be here.
Yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Why I love NBA Summer League
My absolute favorite part of covering the Celtics is going to NBA Summer League. That might seem counterintuitive to some, because there are certainly moments during the year that are far more high-profile, and certainly stretches in the season where there are way more eyes on my work. I’ve covered an NBA championship, blockbuster trades, and an unexpected 56-win season, all things that were uniquely challenging and rewarding.
But there’s a beauty to Summer League, a specific joy that it cultivates, that I haven’t experienced anywhere else in my career. I don’t actually like Las Vegas all that much — the casinos are a little too smoky, the food a little too pricey, the air far too hot — but Summer League? That’s my favorite place in the world.
For two weeks, I find myself submerged in basketball nirvana. Hundreds of players who have dedicated their entire lives to the nearly-impossible dream of one day making the NBA get the chance to put it all on the line. Coaches who never thought they’d ever take the lead role get to run the show for two blissful weeks.
Take Caleb Grill, for example. The 26-old-year Celtics Summer League guard has an uphill battle to climb to achieve his ultimate goal of making the NBA, but Saturday afternoon was a good start. After sitting on the sidelines for most of his Vegas stint, Grill erupted for 18 points, suppressing a grin as he hit three-pointer after three-pointer. Grill has laced up for four different colleges and two different G-League teams.
Now, donning a Celtics jersey, with Celtics front office executives like Mike Zarren and Alison Feaster sitting courtside, Grill reached a flow state.
“I was just super blessed to get the opportunity to come out here and play,” he tells us reporters afterwards with a smile.
This July was my third time covering NBA Summer League. Each time, I’ve arrived on the first day and left on the last, just in case this year was the year the Celtics made the playoffs (spoiler alert: it’s yet to happen during my tenure). The Celtics assistant coaches joke to let them know in advance when I decide to not stay through the title game, because that’ll be the year they make it.
Summer League has gotten increasingly more fun as I’ve become more experienced in this career, in part because I’ve gotten better at my job (I hope!) and in part because the circle of people in the NBA space that I know (and love!) has progressively grown.
This year, my Summer League experience began with the rare opportunity to sit down with Joe Mazzulla for a lengthy 1-on-1 conversation that centered around his summer spent traveling the world, the Jaylen Brown trade, and an offseason of dramatic change.
A few weeks ago, when I saw Mazzulla visit Neemias Queta in Portugal and Hugo Gonzalez in Spain, I was quite literally itching to tell the story of why he’s decided to go all-in on deepening his relationships. Sometimes, I feel so compelled to write a story I see unfolding from afar that I experience a genuine endorphin rush when I get the chance to do so. This was the epitome of that.
Another cool moment?
Chatting with Neemias Queta about what it was like to sign a $56 million extension earlier this month. Queta is the ultimate Summer League success story — he’s previously competed in four Summer Leagues as a player, which is honestly hard to fathom. Very few players lace up that many times and ultimately make it as decisively as he has.
So, seeing him arrive in Vegas with an extra pep in his step, sitting courtside with teammates Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jordan Walsh, was pretty cool.
We caught up with White, who joined Amile Jefferson’s coaching staff as an assistant coach for the very first time. That was fun to watch — he argued calls, grabbed the clipboard, and looked like he belonged, as Jordan Walsh confirmed.
Amile Jefferson loved having White, a close friend, assist him on the sidelines.
“He’s a natural,” Jefferson said. “If he wanted to be, he’d be a head coach. I truly believe that. If he ever wants to do it, he’d be amazing. He just has a great feel for people. Obviously, we all know how cerebral he is and his basketball mind, and so he’s a natural. He’d be amazing at it.”
And, there are players like John Tonje, who knew going into Vegas that Summer League would be a make-or-break moment. Tonje balled out, and his odds of making an NBA roster are a lot higher than they were a few weeks ago.
The joy of chit-chatting at Summer League
But the true joy of Summer League is the moments in between, the conversations. It’s talking to Brandon, the 20-year-old sports journalism student who thoughtfully asks me for 20 minutes of my time because one day, he’d like to cover the Celtics too. It’s meeting Bella, the NBA communications girl who I only knew for one hour, but who instantly felt like a lifelong friend. It’s catching up with Katie, who I only know from my summers in Vegas, but with whom I’ve never had a conversation that was not profound. It’s seeing Vanessa, the Houston Rockets sideline reporter who has made it a point to welcome me into the industry each and every time we’ve crossed paths.
That paragraph could have gone on forever.
Coaches are willing to chat longer. I learned at Summer League the many different paths coaches can take to get to where they are, from Amile Jefferson getting his start as a former Duke University star to Matt Reynolds learning how to cut film as an intern who never played basketball at a high level. Almost every Celtics assistant coach that I now know well, I first had a meaningful conversation with at Summer League.
Front office executives are willing to — off-the-record, of course — share the inner workings of trades, disclose deals that didn’t happen, and give their perspective on the Celtics’ young prospects. I could sit at a restaurant for 12 hours if the topic of the day was the NBA, and I’m reminded of that each July.
Above that, I can’t help but continuously think one thing.
The people of Summer League are each so different. We have entirely different upbringings, strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations. But we are bonded by one thing: an almost irrational love for basketball.
And, boy am I glad my own obsession once again led me to Las Vegas.