"Welcome to Las Vegas!"
Following the pilot's announcement over the intercom, the plane carrying the Knicks' trio touched down in the desert. Throughout the entire journey, there were no romantic encounters or stunning beauties. In America, flight attendants are professionals, and the job is essentially a service role similar to a restaurant server—the only difference being that one is on the ground and the other is in the sky. It was a far cry from the domestic flights back home.
"Finally, we're here!"
The moment the wheels hit the tarmac, Luke stood up from his seat, stretching his limbs. His joints popped and cracked like a string of firecrackers.
"That was brutal..."
Flying commercial was a nightmare for Luke. At 6'8", sitting in a standard economy seat was pure torture. Flying from New York to Las Vegas meant crossing the entire continent from East to West, and he had endured nearly six hours of cramped misery. It was inhumane.
"Danny, how are you feeling?" Luke asked, rubbing his stiff neck. Danny Green, sitting beside him, looked like he was suffering from a severe case of constipation.
"Terrible!" Green replied. Though slightly shorter than Luke, he was still nearly two meters tall and hadn't fared much better.
Steph, however, looked perfectly fine. In basketball, being smaller means getting bullied on the court. But in everyday life, being too tall is a massive inconvenience. At 6'3", Steph was tall compared to a normal person but still fit comfortably into standard spaces.
"Let's go, let's go. Let's grab our bags and get to the hotel," Steph teased, looking at the grimacing pair. "Good thing we arrived a day early. If we had to play today, you two wouldn't even make it through warm-ups."
Luke and Green exchanged a glance, a silent pact forming between them. The three were all young and shared plenty of common ground, so Green had integrated into the group quite well during the flight.
Five minutes later, Steph was lugging two heavy suitcases and wearing three backpacks, staring speechlessly at the two men walking ahead of him.
"Luke, is this really okay?" Green asked, feeling a twinge of guilt.
"Look at how easy he had it on the flight," Luke replied nonchalantly. "We were tortured for six hours. We literally don't have the strength to carry our own gear. Steph is just helping us out. Don't feel bad—you should give him your duffel bag too."
"Well... alright then." Green hesitated for less than a second before accepting Luke's logic. He turned back and shouted, "Thanks, Steph!"
Luke flashed a wicked grin at Curry. "You should thank Danny. If he hadn't brought just one backpack, you'd be carrying three suitcases and three bags right now!"
"Get lost!" Steph barked. He tried to chase after Luke to kick him, but weighed down by the luggage, he couldn't move fast enough. He thought about dropping the bags and letting the "bastards" carry their own stuff, but he softened when he remembered how much they had actually suffered in those tiny seats.
But then he felt the weight again. "Luke! What the hell do you have in this bag? Why is it so heavy?!"
The Summer League serves primarily as a training ground for rookies. NBA teams also invite undrafted free agents or international players to observe their performance and decide whether to offer them a roster spot.
This year, the league was split into two events: the Orlando Summer League and the larger Las Vegas Summer League, which featured 22 teams. Since the first Vegas event in 2004, it had become the premier destination because it actually sold tickets. While Summer League games in other cities often struggled to draw a crowd due to the lower level of play, Vegas was different. As a major tourist hub without its own NBA team, plenty of visitors were willing to pay lower-than-regular-season prices to catch a glimpse of the league's future.
The event would run from July 10th to July 19th. Most participants were rookies, second-year players, or those fighting for a contract.
Of course, there was also the legendary Nate Robinson. The Knicks' current number 4 had participated in the Summer League for four consecutive years, dominating the competition and even winning a Summer League MVP. After his fourth stint, Nate had joked in a press conference that he liked it there and might come back again.
However, the organizers felt Robinson was essentially a "cheat code" at that level. To prevent him from coming back and wrecking the balance again, they effectively "retired" his Summer League eligibility. Robinson was left to admire his MVP trophy at home, lamenting that he couldn't chase another one.
After all, a Summer League MVP is still an MVP!