NBA Summer League Basketball Career Conference

 

The NBA Summer League is in Las Vegas, Nevada every July. The Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just following the NBA Draft. Teams consist of players who have been in the NBA for 3 years or fewer as well as newly drafted talent. It gives Rookies a chance to practice against other players that are new to the NBA. Games are held throughout the ten days at Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the UNLV Campus.
 

What: A SMWW Basketball Career Conference in Sports at the NBA Summer League.
Gain valuable insight into a variety of careers from those working at the highest level in basketball! This day long career conference offers unique panel discussions and question-answer periods designed to start or advance your career on the business of basketball. The day will be split up into diverse speaker panels; including sports business, athlete representation, scouting, digital video editing, and sports career strategies.

When: July 20-21, 2012. Friday night at 7pm for Welcome Reception and Saturday from 9am-3pm followed by the NBA Summer games till 9pm.

Where: Conference sessions are in the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.

Who:  Anyone 16 years or older. This conference is ideal to anyone interested in working or currently working in professional sports, but particularly the NBA and professional basketball. Attendees currently employed by a team or registered NBAPA agents are invited at a discount due to the fact they might want to skip some panels.

Tickets to Summer League games: Tickets will be included in your conference fee for all games on Saturday. An all day pass includes games in both the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavillion. Games start at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. So two games are played at the same time. Your All Day Pass will get you into all the games so you could technically watch half of one game and walk over to see the half of the other game. That would enable you to see approximately 13 NBA teams play in one day!  Additional tickets for extra days may be purchased at the event.

Here is a sample of games that were included on Saturday, July 17th, 2010.  Our conference ends at 3pm so you can attend games. (The 2011 edition of the NBA Summer League was cancelled due to the NBA lockout.)
 

COX Pavilion

1 PM - New York vs. Washington
3 PM - Miami vs. Cleveland
5 PM - LA Clippers vs. San Antonio
7 PM - Minnesota vs. Portland

Thomas & Mack

3:30 PM - Toronto vs. New Orleans
5:30 PM - Sacramento vs. Chicago
7:30 PM - NBA D-League vs. Atlanta

Why: Las Vegas, Nevada will become the center of the basketball universe as NBA executives, scouts, and coaches will gather to network and socialize. Additionally, the NBA Summer League attracts over 3,000 basketball visitors and more than 500 print, television, and radio media members to Vegas. If you want to advance your sports business career, you don't want to miss NBA Summer League.

Networking Opportunities: One of the advantages of this conference is the ability to network within the industry with fellow basketball minded indviduals. Some work for a team, others are looking to break into the industry. Following their presentations, most speakers chat one on one with attendees. Most attendees come alone, but make many new friends, and peers within the industry. And they return year after year!

College Credit:  Most attendees are not college students but sports people looking to start or advance their career in professional or collegiate sportsl. However, for those of you who are in college and would like transferable credits (graduate or undergraduate) to your school, one hour of college credit is available. After you register for the conference, one college credit is available here.

Questions can be directed to workshop@smww.com.

Speakers: Speakers will be added up to the day of the event. Team meetings, staffing changes and games cause our event to be constantly changing. However, speakers are always excellent. We know you will be impressed! Attendees will be emailed a tenative schedule on Monday prior to the event.

Language: All conference sessions will be in English

2010 Basketball Career Conference Agenda:
The 2010 agenda below is a sample.  This will give you an idea of how the event will be organized. Keep in mind we will make additions and changes up to the day of the event. Speakers are constantly added up to the day of the event. Speakers and games are not guaranteed. (This is a popular event and it will sell out as space is limited. We suggest you do not wait until teams and speakers are announced as we could be sold out prior to that time.)


Friday, July 16th, 2010:
(Thomas & Mack Arena Conference Room-Redd Room)
6pm-9pm Registration opens. Welcome Reception with no host cocktails
(Nacho Bar and Hot Dog/Chili Dog bar provided)
8pm Special Guest Speaker
8pm- 9pm Networking

Saturday July 17th, 2010:
(Thomas & Mack Arena Conference Room - Redd Room)
8am Registration opens

8:25am - Dr. Lynn Lashbrook, SMWW President Welcome

8:30am Sports Broadcasting & Journalism Panel
Brian Wheeler, Portland Trail Blazers Play by Play Announcer
Marc Berman, NY Post
one more to be added


9:15am Basketball Operations Panel:
Scotty Stirling, Sacramento Kings Head Scout
Ed Gregory, former Golden State Warriors GM
Frank Burlison, Basketball Analyst


10:30am Sports Agent:
Keith Glass, NBA Agent & Author of "Taking Shots"

11:15am
Chad Buchanan, Portland Trail Blazers Director of College Scouting
Dave Babcock, Milwaukee Bucks Director of Player Personnel

12pm-1pm Box Lunch Served ( included in event fee)
David Kahn, Minnesota Timberwolves GM

1pm
Marc Stein, ESPN

1:45pm
Irving Roland New Orleans Hornets Video Coordinator
Chris Denker, NetScouts Basketball 

                                                                   
2:30pm
Neil Olshey, Los Angeles Clippers GM

Summer League Games in two gyms side by side:
(Ticket included in fee to all Saturday games:)
3pm Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavs
3:30pm Toronto Raptors vs. New Orleans Hornets
5pm LA Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs
5:30pm Sacramento Kings vs. Chicago Bulls
7pm Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers
7:30pm D-League Select vs. Atlanta Hawks