{"id":5954,"date":"2007-07-14T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/the-summer-pro-league-s-time-is-now\/"},"modified":"2007-07-14T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-07-14T05:00:00","slug":"the-summer-pro-league-s-time-is-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/the-summer-pro-league-s-time-is-now","title":{"rendered":"The Summer Pro League’s Time Is Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

You wake up every morning—<\/font><\/font><\/font>coffee in hand—<\/font><\/font><\/font>and log online to check the latest in summer NBA news.  First, ESPN.  Then Slam. Maybe Dime, or Hoopshype.  You could check a half-dozen other websites and blogs and still not read enough about Greg Oden’s tonsils or the Warriors’ Italian sensation, but you don’t have that kind of time.  Obviously, the summer pro basketball scene is abuzz, and especially since Sin City became the host, it’s been a non-stop circus of talent scouting.
 
The circus used to be in town every July, down the street from where you and your coffee are right now.  Oh yeah, Long Beach has a summer league of its own—<\/font><\/font><\/font>THE Summer Pro League, in fact—<\/font><\/font><\/font>that for 37 years until this one hosted at least a handful of NBA teams, trying to get their young guns some tick.  Maybe you were there to see Kobe Bryant—<\/font><\/font><\/font>a fresh-faced 18-year-old that wasn’t quite ready for a league that thought it was ready for him—<\/font><\/font><\/font>Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, Amare Stoudemire or a dozen other All-Stars before they had donned their first official jerseys.
 
You wonder what’s new with the good ‘ol SPL, so you visit their website… and shed a tear.  What happened?  A washed-up Penny Hardaway and Summer-League-icon Bo Outlaw are the only pros that still show up?  Why, just last year the SPL was in a frenzy about Laker youngster Andrew Bynum, so you went to see for yourself—<\/font><\/font><\/font>and were, indeed, impressed—<\/font><\/font><\/font>at the CSULB Pyramid that now seems drowsy in the summer heat.
 
Then you remember that it took you several years to even find out that there was a summer basketball league in your backyard.  That the stars of tomorrow were on display and for the price of a measley few bucks and an afternoon you could say, “I saw him before…”  If only you had known.  Few did.  So gradually, they left.  Moved east to Vegas.
 
Now the SPL begins a rebuilding attempt.  It announces a new, fresh era.  Yes, after underpublicizing a summer league flooded with talent until it up and left, the time is now.  It didn’t work with top-flight ability and big-draw names, but it’ll flourish under the likes of Team Platinum v. Team Gold.  Who needs the Lakers and Clippers, the Polish National Team—<\/font><\/font><\/font>unranked in FIBA’s top 75 teams worldwide—<\/font><\/font><\/font>is in town.  Sorry, both Gabon (#70) and Uzbekistan (#44) were unavailable.
 
Yes, the time is now.
 
Oh well, you think to yourself over another sip, there’s got to be other summer sports in Long Beach this summer.  Didn’t you hear something about a Sea Carnival thingy coming up?
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