To Sin City we go ...
Vegas Summer League begins today to take the NBA offseason into its next phase
LAS VEGAS — I know, I know.
I'm a mere two Tuesdays into Year 5 for this publication … and 0 for 2 on actually publishing our weekly Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza on Tuesday.
Last week, of course, Tuesday fell on July 1. The first full day of NBA Free Agency. So I had a worthy alibi.
This week? I really planned to post this Tuesday night, but too much was still happening and too many phones were still ringing. Throw in a travel day and more news to chase and I was all but forced to shove this TNE into W̶e̶d̶n̶e̶s̶d̶a̶y̶ Thursday as I flew into the desert for my annual trip to NBA Summer League.
This stay in The 702 will be a bit longer than usual. I'm not just attending to report on behalf of our community. I'll also be doing three straight days' worth of podcasts for DLLS Sports, as well as making some appearances for some other shows within the ALLCITY Network, to cover (Cooper) Flagg Fever and other summer league business.
It's super-exciting for my DLLS Sports colleagues and me because we have a top-shelf presenting sponsor and host sportsbook for the trip: Westgate Las Vegas!
We're doing all our shows from the Westgate SuperBook and, well, I think you guys have read often enough here about my love of the Vegas strip — and especially casino corners that feature hundreds of TVs simultaneously broadcasting sports from all over the world — to surmise how psyched I am.
Quite simply: Team Superstack cannot wait to meet up in Sin City … and I can't wait to pod from the SuperBook.
Yes: I will indeed be meeting up with Jake Fischer as part of this excursion for just the second time in person (I think) since he joined The Stein Line as a twice-weekly contributor last November.
is also desert-bound to report and write and host his trademark live video streams for Bleacher Report.So, yeah. The Transaction Game might be slowing down a bit, but there is still lots going on. Hopefully the reporting to follow helps make you feel like we brought you with us.
The Stein Line is a reader-supported newsletter with both Free and Paid subscriptions available … and those who opt for the Paid edition are taking an active role in the reporting by providing vital assistance to bolster my independent coverage of #thisleague. Feel free to forward this post to family and friends interested in the NBA and please consider becoming a Paid subscriber to have full access to all of my posts.
As a reminder: Tuesday editions, on this and every Newsletter Tuesday, go out free to anyone who signs up, just as my Tuesday pieces did in their New York Times incarnation.
Further Announcements!
🏀 My last podcast narration for the season for Hark Audio's NBA Now show dropped Monday. Had an absolute blast introducing three NBA podcast clips a week (and sometimes more) that are expertly curated for you on Hark, which I urge you to download. The show is on summer hiatus until October but there is tons on the app. Give it a whirl if you haven't already!
🏀 I also, as some of you have lobbied for previously, have begun posting on Threads in addition to all your other go-to platforms. Started a couple days before free agency started. The handle is essentially the same as my Twitter account (without the capital letters): @thesteinline. Please follow me there if you are indeed a Threads user.
And ...
🏀 Just resharing my Four Years In piece from Saturday about my metamorphosis from scribe at The New York Times to INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER. Please give it a read here if you were (rightly) far removed from Reading Mode during the holiday weekend:
The math sounds surreal to me, but Year 5 for The Stein Line is really underway
Fourth of July fireworks on a Friday night.
Predictions Corner
Our non-stop focus here on the draft and free agency matters since the NBA Finals ended on June 22 unfortunately rendered this Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza our first chance to share the results of our Community Predictions from Oklahoma City's seven-game title triumph over Indiana.
When our trusty tabulator Deven P went through all the results, he naturally found many respondents who picked the heavily favored Thunder to win it all ... but none in seven games. Deven P also found three prognosticators who were just one more Pacers win away from a significant predictive triumph.
Here are the tabulations:
What are the odds on Flagg not winning ROY? I’m liking Dylan Harper’s chance