Laker fans were very excited about the Las Vegas Summer League this year. You can’t blame them. The Lakers were taking a team that consisted of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell. A Summer League title seemed within reach, but that’s changed in the last several days.
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Now, the Lakers are the 11th seed and will have to string together a few victories to capture the Summer League title. The NBA would love to have the Lakers do well in this tournament, they simply bring the biggest crowd.
Not only is the Thomas and Mack filled with purple and gold, but people are tuning in to watch these Summer League games from the comfort of their own home. The Timberwolves and their fan base are also excited about their team and the game between the Lakers and Wolves ended up breaking a record.
According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, when the Lakers and Timberwolves faced off on July 10th, they set the mark for the most watched Summer League in NBA history:
NBA TV's Lakers-Wolves game Friday was its most watched summer-league game of all time, w/ an average of 277,000 viewers
— Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) July 14, 2015
Almost 300,000 people tuned in to watch a Summer League game, that’s unreal. While the Lakers ended up losing that game, it just comes to show how many people are eager to see this team turn things around.
It obviously helped that the top two picks were facing off in their first Summer League game, but you can’t deny the Laker effect. This team hasn’t been very good these last couple of years, but the league is better when the Lakers are in contention.
Today, the Lakers get a chance to redeem themselves after a disappointment performance against the New York Knicks. The Dallas Mavericks will be standing in their way, but they haven’t won a game since arriving in Las Vegas. It would be nice to see the Lakers show some promise.