When Does the NBA Summer League Start? Dates, Schedules and Formats for Las Vegas, San Francisco and Salt Lake City

It's been almost a month since the NBA crowned its 2021-22 champion. The Golden State Warriors topped the Boston Celtics in six games back in June. Since then, basketball fans enjoyed another edition of the annual NBA Draft, but have been left craving in-game action.

Fortunately, the draft is always followed up with a little teaser for the upcoming campaign in the league's annual Summer League.

When Does the NBA Summer League Start?

The official 2022 NBA 2k23 Summer League will get started on July 7, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV. The events will run 11 days to July 17, and see all 30 professional basketball franchises participate. This is the main event on the NBA's summer calendar, but there are actually three annual summer leagues.

The goal of summer leagues is to give 2022 draft picks, second-year pros, and G League players an opportunity to display their skills and begin transitioning to NBA life.

What Are the Three NBA Summer Leagues?

Under the current format, the NBA has used three official summer leagues dating back to 2018. These include the traditional 30-team format in Las Vegas, and two smaller tip-off events that take place before the longer 11-day event.

The other two events are the California Classic and Salt Lake City Summer League.

California Classic Summer League

The California Classic was the first return of live basketball action, taking place from July 2 to July 5. The 2022 edition was the fourth annual showing of this showcase event and took place at the Chase Center in San Francisco, CA.

Four teams battled in the 2022 California Classic, including the Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat. These teams played a total of six games across three days. Below is a quick recap of the results from the California Classic.

Saturday, July 2
Lakers 100, Heat 66
Kings 86, Warriors 68

Sunday, July 3
Kings 81, Heat 64
Lakers 100, Warriors 77

Tuesday, July 5
Heat 94, Warriors 70
Kings 87, Lakers 75

The California Classic emerged as a replacement to the previous Orlando Pro Summer League, which was held from 2002 to 2017. The Orlando Magic previously hosted this event. The Sacramento Kings revived this event and played host in 2018.

Salt Lake City Summer League

The Salt Lake City Summer League follows a similar formate to the California Classic. The event is held at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, UT from Tuesday, July 5 to Thursday, July 7.

Utah's Summer League has origins dating back to 1984 (previously known as Rocky Mountain Revue), but rebranded officially in 2019.

This year's event features four teams in the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers. The four teams play a round-robin game showcase across three days before one team is crowned the winner. Below are the results of games held on Tuesday, July 5, and the remaining schedule.

Tuesday, July 5
Grizzlies 103, 76ers 99
Thunder 98, Jazz 77

Wednesday, July 6
Grizzlies vs Thunder, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
76ers vs Jazz, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Thursday, July 7
Thunder vs 76ers, 6 p.m. ET on NBATV
Grizzlies vs Jazz, 8 p.m. ET on NBATV

2022 NBA 2k23 Summer League

Following the first two tip-off event, the classic edition of NBA Summer League gets going in Las Vegas, NV. The 2022 NBA 2k23 Summer League is held across 11 days, features 75 games and all 30 franchises. Games are played either at the Thomas & Mack Center or the Cox Pavilion.

2k23 Summer League Format

Under the format, each team will play a total of five games. The first four games for each franchise takes place from July 7-15, before a championship game is determined. That championship game is scheduled for July 17, while the participants are decided by winning percentage as well as tiebreakers.

Those remaining 28 teams not playing in the championship will each conclude 2022 Summer League action with a final game on either July 16 or 17.

2k23 Summer League Schedule

Below is the full schedule for the first four games for each team participating in NBA Summer League, ordered by date. (all times are ET)

Thursday, July 7
(1 Game)
Houston Rockets vs Orlando Magic, 10 p.m. on ESPN

Friday, July 8
(8 Games)
Portland Trail Blazers vs Detroit Pistons, 12 a.m. on EPSN
Dallas Mavericks vs Chicago Bulls, 4 p.m. on ESPNU
San Antonio Spurs vs Cleveland Cavaliers, 5 p.m. on NBATV
Charlotte Hornets vs Indiana Pacers, 6 p.m. on ESPN2
Brooklyn Nets vs Milwaukee Bucks, 7 p.m. on NBATV
Golden State Warriors vs New York Knicks, 8 p.m. on ESPN2
Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves, 9 p.m. on NBATV
Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. on ESPN2

Saturday, July 9
(8 Games)
Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers, 3:30 p.m. on NBATV
Magic vs Sacramento Kings, 4 p.m. on ESPN
Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat, 5:30 p.m. on NBATV
Pistons vs Washington Wizards, 6 p.m. on ESPN2
Atlanta Hawks vs Utah Jazz, 7:30 p.m. on NBATV
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Rockets, 8 p.m. on ESPN2
LA Clippers vs Grizzlies, 9:30 p.m. on NBATV
New Orleans Pelicans vs Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. on ESPN2

Sunday, July 10
(8 Games)
Pacers vs Kings, 3 p.m. on ESPN
76ers vs Nets, 3:30 p.m. on NBATV
Bulls vs Knicks, 5 p.m. on ESPN2
Wizards vs Suns, 5:30 p.m. on NBATV
Nuggets vs Cavaliers, 7 p.m. on ESPNU
Warriors vs Spurs, 7:30 p.m. on NBATV
Timberwolves vs Grizzlies, 9 p.m. on ESPNU
Hornets vs Lakers, 9:30 p.m. on NBATV

Monday, July 11
(6 Games)
Pelicans vs Hawks, 6 p.m. on NBATV
Rockets vs Spurs, 7 p.m. on ESPN
Bucks vs Celtics, 8 p.m. on NBATV
Magic vs Thunder, 9 p.m. on ESPN
Mavericks vs Jazz, 10 p.m. on NBATV
Knicks vs Trail Blazers, 11 p.m. on ESPN2

Tuesday, July 12
(7 Games)
Bulls vs Raptors, 5 p.m. on NBATV
Grizzlies vs Nets, 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Hawks vs Heat, 7 p.m. on NBATV
Celtics vs Warriors, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
Pistons vs Pacers, 9 p.m. on NBATV
Suns vs Mavericks, 10:30 p.m. on ESPN
Lakers vs Clippers, 11 p.m. on NBATV

Wednesday, July 13
(7 Games)
Timberwolves vs Bucks, 4 p.m. on NBATV
Cavaliers vs Hornets, 5 p.m. on ESPNU
Wizards vs Pelicans, 6 p.m. on NBATV
Raptors vs Jazz, 7 p.m. on ESPN2
Kings vs Thunder, 8 p.m. on NBATV
Heat vs 76ers, 9 p.m. on ESPN2
Nuggets vs Clippers, 10 p.m. on NBATV

Thursday, July 14
(8 Games)
Grizzlies vs Celtics, 3:30 p.m. on NBATV
Hawks vs Spurs, 4 p.m. on ESPN2
Cavaliers vs Pistons, 5:30 p.m. on NBATV
Bulls vs Hornets, 6 p.m. on ESPN2
Knicks vs Magic, 7:30 p.m. on NBATV
Mavericks vs Bucks, 8 p.m. on ESPN
Trail Blazers vs Rockets, 9:30 p.m. on NBATV
Nets vs Timberwolves, 10 p.m. on ESPN

Friday, July 15
(7 Games)
Clippers vs Jazz, 5 p.m. on ESPN2
76ers vs Nuggets, 6 p.m. on NBATV
Thunder vs Warriors, 7 p.m. on ESPN
Kings vs Suns, 8 p.m. on NBATV
Pacers vs Wizards, 9 p.m. on ESPN2
Heat vs Raptors, 10 p.m. on NBATV
Lakers vs Pelicans, 11 p.m. on ESPN

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.