Cooper Flagg And Bronny James Face Off In Extremely Anticipated Mavs-Lakers Matchup At NBA Summer time League

Hoops take heart stage as Las Vegas transforms into the NBA’s final summer time showcase for NBA 2K26 Summer time League. Vegas presents a peek into the court docket of the longer term with slam dunks, rising stars, and a sneak peak of the 2025-26 NBA season.

NBA 2K26 Summer time League began its extremely anticipated 2025 season in Las Vegas on Thursday with seven video games. Whereas every recreation was full of followers eager to see the newbies within the league in motion on the court docket, one recreation stood out as the sport everybody wished to witness. 

The marquee matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks packed the home at UNLV‘s Thomas & Mack Heart on Thursday night. All eyes had been on Lakers sophomore participant Bronny James, and Dallas Mavericks rising star Cooper Flagg, who was the primary total choose of the 2025 NBA draft. The sport supplied a glimpse into the close to way forward for the NBA, full of rookie highlights and a buzzing crowd excited to witness the league’s subsequent technology.

NBA 2K26 Summer time League has returned to Las Vegas for the twenty first 12 months for 11 days of thrilling video games at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Heart and Cox Pavilion. That includes all 30 NBA groups, the ten-day occasion could have a complete of 76 video games for followers to take pleasure in, concluding with the Summer time League Finals on Sunday, July 20. 

The opening day of the NBA 2K26 Summer time League featured a full slate of matchups, together with the New Orleans Pelicans taking up the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Cleveland Cavaliers battling the Indiana Pacers, the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder dealing with the Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic squaring off in opposition to the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets assembly the Milwaukee Bucks, and the San Antonio Spurs going up in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

With the highlight shining brilliant on the latest members of the league, there’s positive to be loads of wonderful, standout performances and an exciting peek into the NBA’s subsequent technology. 

One recreation many diehard basketball followers flocked to Sin Metropolis to witness was the Lakers vs. Mavs. 

Bronny, son of NBA celebrity LeBron James, is about to enter his second season within the NBA. He was the fifty fifth total draft choose within the 2024 NBA Draft. He performed in each the NBA and G-League throughout final season, (27 video games within the NBA and 11 video games for the South Bay Lakers within the G-League), averaging 21.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 5.3 APG, in keeping with Sports activities Illustrated. 

All eyes within the area and on TV, since this recreation was televised, had been additionally on Flagg, the No. 1 total draft choose of 2025, as he made his extremely anticipated debut with the Mavs. Followers had been desperate to see the previous Duke star in motion on the court docket to get a glimpse of what the 2026 season may seem like for the Mavericks when he performs alongside veteran gamers Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Anthony Davis. Irving was really in the home sitting courtside cheering his workforce on enthusiastically your entire recreation.

Thomas & Mack Heart was full of excited followers prepared to look at Bronny and Flagg in motion. From the second they each stepped foot on the court docket, screams and applause had been heard throughout.

Common admission Summer time League tickets do not get assigned seating. Seats in most sections are first come, first served, and the seats within the area had been virtually all taken, excluding a number of the greater up seats.

Bronny scored the primary factors of the sport and clearly impressed followers along with his enchancment going into his second NBA season. Flagg placed on fairly a present with dunks, steals, and 3-point photographs.

Whereas the sport was shut from starting to finish, the Mavs got here out on prime successful the sport 87-85.

The primary day of NBA 2K26 Summer time League in Vegas supplied followers seven video games to look at beginning at 12:30 p.m. PT and ending with the final recreation at 7 p.m.

Day 2 has 8 video games beginning at 1 p.m. with the final recreation of the day at 8 p.m. Some video games on the schedule are performed in Thomas & Mack Heart and others within the related Cox Pavilion, giving followers choices as to what video games they need to see all through the day.

There are six to eight video games day-after-day earlier than Saturday, July 19, when the Semifinals start. And on Sunday, July 20, the championship recreation begins at 7 p.m.

Every workforce performs at the least 4 video games, and after their 4 video games, the highest 4 groups will proceed to the semifinals. The 2 successful groups from the semifinals go onto the championship recreation.

This 12 months’s Summer time League marks the twenty first 12 months in Las Vegas, and the lineup is sizzling, with a number of video games performed day-after-day via Sunday, July 20. Video games are at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Heart and related Cox Pavilion, making it straightforward for followers to catch all of the video games they want. Ticketholders have the flexibility to travel from one area to the opposite so they do not miss any video games they need to see. 

The PlayStation NBA Creator Cup recreation kicked off the practically two-week lengthy occasion on Wednesday, July 9. This fusion of sports activities and creator tradition had a number of the prime digital creators and basketball personalities on the court docket for the thrilling recreation. The sport featured YPK Raye, Cam Wilder, Chris Staples, Bree Inexperienced, SypherPK, and plenty of different favorites. 

Along with all the joy on the court docket, there may be additionally some pleasure off the court docket. From July 17-19, the 2025 Summer time League Movie Competition will happen with each day screenings on the Strip View Pavilion inside Thomas & Mack Heart.