Heeeere’s Jonny! Gomes Lifts Red Sox to Extra Inning Win over Twins

Connelly’s Top Ten: Bruins Keep Rolling

Middlebrooks Delivers in 9th as Sox Rally in Dramatic Fashion

2013 NHL Playoffs Expert Picks: Second Round

Potential Vegas League to Include Celtics Players?

It was bound to happen with all of the glorified pick-up game highlights making the rounds on YouTube. Impact Basketball (a basketball training center located in Vegas) has decided to put together their own two-week basketball tournament with rosters consisting of over 70 NBA players.

According to the initial report by Hoopsworld, it will start in September and run for at least two weeks, with two games each day. The league will play by NBA rules and have a mixture of veterans and rookies. The only requirement is that you must be in the NBA. No amateurs allowed.

Celtics Involved

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis, Rajon Rondo, and Jermaine O’Neal all have ties to Impact. The rosters are far from being set, but all of these players were mentioned in the first report by Hoopsworld.

Impact League to Act as a Training Camp?

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated went into further detail in his column last night. I found this quote particularly interesting;

“According to Impact owner and renowned trainer Joe Abunassar, the Clippers’ Blake Griffin, Mo Williams and Randy Foye came by last week and expressed a desire to enter the league with a team made up solely of their teammates. Oklahoma City center Nazr Mohammed is trying to convince Kevin Durant, James Harden and others to do the same, while Indiana’s Dahntay Jones and Denver’s Al Harrington are making similar pitches to their respective teams.”

This seems like an incredibly smart way to get familiar with your teammates while the lockout continues on, and the Idea of having a ‘Clippers’ or ‘Celtics’ team in this league would make it that much more enjoyable.

How to Watch

David Stern has done a ‘great’ job making sure these summer league games stay off of TV. Networks like ESPN and Comcast Sports Network will not risk falling out of favor with the NBA, but it is very likely the Impact league will be streamed online in some fashion.

Tags: Impact Summer League, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo