Yardbarker
x
Feeding your roundball addiction through the summer months
Yardbarker Illustration/Getty Images

Feeding your roundball addiction through the summer months

All the keys dates for WNBA, Big3, NBA Summer League and more to keep you cool this summer.

So the NBA season is over and despite how some of you have felt about the quality of competition in the playoffs, you’re going to miss the league more than you care to admit. Never fear, though, because basketball doesn’t skip a beat at all in the summer time. In fact, you’d be utterly amazed by how much hoops you can watch before NBA training camp kicks off in the fall.

Consider this a small sample for your roundball addiction through the summer months.

June 14-18: FIBA U16 Americas Championship for Men (LiveBasketball.tv - Subscription)

FIBA, basketball’s global governing body, hosts the tournament of the top eight national teams from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean for male players under the age of 16. College hoops fiends could be all over this bracket as well as some enterprising coaches.

June 17-21: FIBA 3X3 World Cup (LiveBasketball.tv)

It was just announced that the International Olympic Committee has added 3-on-3 basketball to the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. On top of the launch of a much-hyped pro league here in the States, FIBA will have its fourth international tournament taking place in western France. For the unfamiliar, this tournament will give us a wider glimpse of how the smaller, but faster game will be played on an Olympic stage.

June 22: NBA Draft (ESPN)

The good thing is that the NBA doesn’t completely leave us in the cold for the month of June thanks to its draft – a fascinating one because the Celtics have the #1 pick, there are multiple intriguing players that can go in the top five, and so much more. The bad thing is that the media reprieve from LaVar Ball is coming to a swift end.

June 23: WNBA – Washington Mystics at Minnesota Lynx (ESPN)


Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx handles the ball against the Washington Mystics on June 9, 2017 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

When Elena Delle Donne was traded to the Washington Mystics, every game against the league’s standard bearers would be seen as a WNBA Finals preview. These two teams have already played each other – the Lynx ran all over DC in a 98-73 win last week – but one of several potential Finals previews will now shift to Minneapolis where the Lynx have been the league’s dominant home team since 2011. (They’re 94-15 in the regular season.) Sylvia Fowles has been putting up MVP-caliber numbers so far in 2017 to guide a stacked Minnesota squad to their undefeated 9-0 record.

June 25: The BIG3 debuts (FOX Sports 1)

After much hype and a combative setting at its draft, the inaugural season of the BIG3 league begins at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Pretty much every person involved is a familiar name to basketball fiends, including several Hall of Fame players serving as coaches, but the curiosity element will be strong. And who doesn’t want to see Allen Iverson? Regular season games will be played weekly on Sundays through August 13th, but broadcasted Monday nights in primetime on FS1.

June 26: NBA Awards (TNT)

In what’s essentially a made-for-TV event, the Association will have its first ever televised award show. Of course, this means that the rage about Russell Westbrook will begin anew, but at least we may get a few decent memes out of it.

July 1-6: NBA free agency moratorium

Free agents can make verbal agreements with teams, but cannot sign contracts. Ideally, the NBA has a message to all teams and free agents:

July 1- 17: NBA Summer League (NBA TV)

Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum called sixty names in the draft. Nearly all of them will be playing for their new teams in Orlando, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas for the Summer League. The eight-team Orlando league, hosted by the Magic, will feature six lottery teams – Detroit, Dallas, New York, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami along with playoff teams in Oklahoma City and Indiana. The Utah Jazz host a smaller, four-team league that runs concurrently with Orlando, where they will play Boston, San Antonio and Philadelphia. At the conclusion of those leagues, the higher-profiled, open to the public NBA Summer League kicks off in Las Vegas where the majority of this year’s playoff teams will hoop in Vegas along with the four Utah league teams.

Certainly this will be the last time we see a NBA team in some form until training camp begins in the fall, but on top of the 2017 draft class, this will also be a chance to become reacquainted with last year’s top pick, the 76ers’ Ben Simmons, who missed the 2016-17 season due to a foot injury.

July 1-19: FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup (LiveBasketball.tv)

We may not be talking about high school phenoms like Zion Williamson, but there could be a few names here that could come to a campus near you.

July 6: WNBA – Los Angeles Sparks at Minnesota Lynx (ESPN2)

It’s the first time these two teams will meet all season in a rematch of the greatest Finals in league history. The Lynx have a chance to come into this game undefeated at 13-0 while the defending champion Sparks are still sorting themselves out after roster changes this past offseason. These two teams have built a special rivalry over the years, however, so expect the prime time showdown on ESPN2 to light Twitter up once more.

July 7: NBA free agency moratorium ends

At this time of year, the free agents begin to do this:

July 8-9, July 15-16: The Basketball Tournament Regionals (WatchESPN/ESPN3)

The annual 5-on-5, single elimination tournament begins anew. 64 teams from across the country will compete March Madness-style… well, except for the actual getting paid part. The winning team gets to share the spoils of a $2 million pot. While a play-in round kicks things off in June, the real fun begins with the regional games in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Peoria, Illinois. Many former pros play for the teams while current NBA players along with other pro athletes and celebrities act as ‘boosters’ or the public face of their squads. ESPN will broadcast the regionals online.

July 20-23: The Basketball Tournament Super 16 (ESPN, ESPN2)

The top 16 teams of TBT will square off in New York at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, with all games televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

July 22: WNBA All-Star Game (ESPN)

Because of the Summer Olympic break a year ago, the league didn’t host its annual All-Star festivities. The midseason break takes place in Seattle’s KeyArena, which has been home to the Storm since the team’s founding in 2000. As a painful note for former SuperSonics fans, it’ll be the first exhibition contest of a league’s best players in thirty years (the 1987 NBA All-Star Game).

July 25: WNBA – New York Liberty at Minnesota Lynx (ESPN2)

Many observers felt that Tina Charles was robbed for her second MVP award last season. In a Finals preview against the league’s best, you’ll find out why the Liberty forward is one of the premier players in the world.

August 1: The Basketball Tournament Semifinals (ESPN)

TBT’s semis will be played in Baltimore’s Coppin State University, shown on ESPN and hosted by city native Carmelo Anthony. For that $2 million prize, those elbows in the paint are going to get a little sharper.

August 3: The Basketball Tournament Championship (ESPN)

Somebody’s about to get paid. The title game will also be played in Baltimore, live on ESPN.

August 6: WNBA – Phoenix Mercury at Washington Mystics (NBA TV)

Brittney Griner’s offense has come a long, long way to the point that she’s a strong MVP candidate in the early going this year. These two teams will face off again two weeks later in Phoenix, but this could be a potential WNBA Semifinals series.

August 20: BIG3 Playoffs (FOX Sports 1)


We'll be ready when Ice Cube brings the first BIG3 playoffs in August.  Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for BIG3

The new league’s inaugural playoffs take place in KeyArena where many of the players will be playing competitive ball for the first time since the Sonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City almost a decade ago. (Expect player captain Rashard Lewis and coach Gary Payton to be vocal about that.) While the bottom four seeds will play consolation games, the top four will be playing to get to the championship game six nights later. Games will be shown live on FS1.

August 26: BIG3 Championship (FOX Sports 1)

The title game will be broadcasted live on FS1 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

August 31-September 17: FIBA EuroBasket (LiveBasketball.tv)

The 40th edition of the tournament will pit Europe’s best national teams against each other. With a mix of current NBA players and many from the continent’s top pro leagues, playing for pride and country will make for some interesting competition. The talent-rich and tough Spain is the defending champion.

September 6: WNBA Playoffs (ESPN)

Look, you’re going to be salivating for football and baseball’s going to be deep into pennant races. Yet, summer technically ends on September 22.

In the meanwhile, you can watch the single-elimination games in the first and second rounds before the playoffs expand to best-of-five series for the semifinals and Finals. The controversial format could spell doom right away for title contenders that had one too many off-nights at the end of the season because just the top two teams are given double byes into the semifinals. Last year, the New York Liberty were clearly the third-best team in the WNBA, but were eliminated by the uneven, but tough Phoenix Mercury, despite having a bye into the second round. The format guarantees tension and some shockers, for sure.

Late September: WNBA Finals (ESPN)

So is this another one in the trophy case for Maya Moore and the rest of the Minnesota Lynx? Does the Elena Delle Donne trade pay off for the Mystics? Will the aforementioned Liberty finally take home the title that’s eluded the founding franchise? Or do the Sparks prove doubters wrong and repeat as champions? Expect fireworks in the Finals, no matter who ends up playing in them.

Late September: NBA training camp

Time flies. We barely had enough time to miss you, NBA!

Can you name every first overall WNBA draft pick?

An asterisk (*) indicates the 1997 Elite Draft.

SCORE:
0/24
TIME:
10:00
2019 / LVG
Jackie Young
2018 / LVG
A'ja Wilson
2017 / SAS
Kelsey Plum
2016 / SEA
Breanna Stewart
2015 / SEA
Jewell Loyd
2014 / CON
Chiney Ogwumike
2013 / PHX
Brittney Griner
2012 / LAS
Nneka Ogwumike
2011 / MIN
Maya Moore
2010 / CON
Tina Charles
2009 / ATL
Angel McCoughtry
2008 / LAS
Candace Parker
2007 / PHX
Lindsey Harding
2006 / MIN
Seimone Augustus
2005 / CHA
Janel McCarville
2004 / PHX
Diana Taurasi
2003 / CLE
LaToya Thomas
2002 / SEA
Sue Bird
2001 / SEA
Lauren Jackson
2000 / CLE
Ann Wauters
1999 / WAS
Chamique Holdsclaw
1998 / UTA
Margo Dydek
1997 / HOU
Tina Thompson
1997 / UTA*
Dena Head

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.