The Dallas Mavericks are going to draft Cooper Flagg and you’ll want to see him in person
On Monday night, the first thing I said to my wife after we’d celebrated the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Lottery was that I was going to have to change my flight and time in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League.
You see, Las Vegas Summer League has become a yearly pilgrimage. The first time I went was 2013, where I was in awe of actual media members and future NBA players. 12 years later, it’s become a time to catch up with old friends, take in intense and occasionally terrible basketball, and be around the festival-like atmosphere that prevails around UNLV.
Only this time, I’m going to watch Cooper Flagg, the 18-year-old phenom who dominated college basketball during the 2024-25 season and was a missed field goal away from the national championship game. I’ll get to see him in a Dallas Mavericks uniform in person for the first time he suits up, even it isn’t the big show.
And you know what? You can too. It’s one of the most approachable NBA fan experiences, even though it requires a little travel. You see, with games starting on the evening of Thursday, July 10th, you have nearly two full months to plan and execute a trip to Las Vegas!
At the moment, I expect Flagg to play maybe two games max, which means that opening Thursday night game and a game on Saturday during prime time. But there are so many games and the players this year should be exciting particularly if you’re a NBA fan at large.
General admission tickets, once they’re available, run around $60 a person, but again that’s for a full day’s admission for many, many games. The first weekend is the most packed but I’ve gone for both the start and the end of the event and it’s fun. Beyond that, if you’re looking to go really big and have a full on experience, the NBA has a range of packages for you.
- There’s the truly crazy courtside experience, with prices ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 with a ton of perks included including an invitation to a VIP pool party, getting to attend some photoshoots, and even getting to go to a shoot around with NBA players past and present.
- There’s a reserved seating grouping too, which some of the tiers of extras mentioned in the courtside experience. Those seem to be more limited in number.
- Additionally there’s a courtside upper deck classification which has a few of the perks of the other two, but the main draw has to be the tier of seats in the main court.
- Lastly there’s a general admission plus tier, which is general admission tickets plus some access to the VIP events.
When/if I go this season, it’ll be general admission, largely because I’ll have to work as well (assuming I don’t get media credentials). But it’s such a fun time either way and I can’t recommend it enough. With two months to plan, now is the time to get working on a trip. I hope to see you there.