Organizers expect more in 2005

Nick Christensen

Monday, July 19, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

Dwight Howard, Marcus Banks, Dajuan Wagner and the other "Stars of Tomorrow" have left, but according to Reebok Vegas Summer League executive director Warren LeGarie, it's a fair bet that more will be back in 2005.

An average of 1,100 fans attended games at the Cox Pavilion over the six days of the summer league, and for LeGarie, that was't bad.

"We don't have a hometown team. In Long Beach (Calif.), the Lakers will sell out, and in Utah when the Jazz play they'll sell out the gym -- but the next game will have 300 people," he said. "Every day has been anywhere from 800 and change up to 1,500. It's been steady, based on the games, not favoritisms."

But while attendance may be the layman's bellwether for the success of the summer league, LeGarie said he has a different standard to gauge how well things went in this year's first shot at the Vegas league.

"My barometer is the teams. If they're satisfied, they're going to speak well of us and it's ultimately a word-of-mouth situation," he said. "Fortunately, that's been the case; to a team they've all committed to coming back next season."

The league's presence here is thanks to the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Some teams in Shaw's Pro Summer League, at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, had concerns about problems in Boston and the virtual lockdown the city will be under during the DNC.

Cleveland first pulled out, followed by Washington and Boston. Orlando joined those three teams to form a league, and LeGarie used his contacts he's made in NBA front offices to persuade Denver and Phoenix to be late additions.

"It was a night-and-day effort, and if it wasn't for the staff working with me, it would have been a very difficult one," he said. "Once we had our seed money, we were able to proceed and make this a reality. It was all funded out of our own pockets. There was no NBA contribution, and no teams contributed other than paying a fee to come to the league."

LeGarie had no specifics on how much money the organizers lost this year, and said those wouldn't be tallied until next week. But this year was about laying the groundwork for future summers, especially with only two months to go from a long-term idea to a hastily organized event for this year.

"We weren't planning on making any money. It's more of a labor of love. We couldn't cut corners, and we had to put a real credible product on the floor for the fans," LeGarie said. "We had a great practice facility. We paid them to put down the floor, and we tried to put together a first-rate presentation that would make them comfortable."

Now that things have wrapped up, LeGarie is planning for next year, and speaks of a league that could last as long as two weeks and involve nearly half of the NBA. NBA senior vice president of operations Stu Jackson was in Las Vegas Sunday, surveying the scene for himself for later discussions with LeGarie about future summers in Las Vegas.

"Right now I have 14 teams, including the six that were here, that have expressed a real desire to be here next year," LeGarie said. "A lot of teams have convinced their veteran players, even though they're not participating in games, to work out with clubs. They're able to stay in touch with coaches, have individual workouts, and that's an extra bonus."

LeGarie also said the league is considering shortening the game to four 10-minute quarters from their current NBA-standard 12 minutes, and he's waiting for more feedback from the teams once some time has passed after the final buzzer.

But he said overall, he's heard rave reviews.

"Maybe I've had a skewed report, but every player I've spoken to has enjoyed the experience. It's more than a summer league, it's truly an experience for them," he said. "I know no father has an ugly child, but so far I've heard no negative comments about what we've done here."