The Summer Classic: Summer League Basketball

Tonight, the game affectionately termed "The Midsummer Classic," MLB's All-Star Game, is being played in Cincinnati. It triggered in my mind thoughts of the other Summer Classic, summer league basketball. Harlem's Rucker League is perhaps the most classic of all. It gave rise and prominence to ABA All Star Connie Hawkins, the man who foreshadowed Doctor J. And the lesser known, but no less luminary ballers, Earl "The Goat" Manigault and Herman "The Helicopter" Knowings, who legend has it that in a Rucker League game he leaped into the air going for a ball fake in the paint, and as his opponent waited for him to come back down the referee called three seconds. Earl Monroe, originally nicknamed Black Jesus, not The Pearl, wowing crowds every time he hit the asphalt in Harlem.

The NBA has its Summer League in Vegas and Orlando, and this year alone, classic moments include Russ Smith doing Russ Things and going off for 20 points in a game for Memphis, including hitting the game winner in double overtime against his former teammate Peyton Siva. Summer league gives Russ the chance to be Russ on the big stage. Terry Rozier, of who it is said by many pundits, was a wasted pick at no. 16, proving naysayers wrong, and splashing 22 points for the Celtics in a recent game. Montrezl Harrell being Trez, skying for a missed shot and turning the rebound into a rim rattling slam. Number one pick Karl Anthony-Towns learning as he plays to preserve his body, not bang every possession and solve the riddle of four arms in your face, and turning the situation into a beautiful assist to a teammate on a flex cut. Emmanuel Mudiay proving his mettle.

There's DC's Berry Farms Pro-Am league, where Kevin Durant might be spied walking his bike to the court, traveling from his Mom's house. Georgetown's Kenner League, a showcase for LJ Peak, fresh off a gold medal win on the U.S.A.'s U19 team, with Nanu Onuaku. Plus the plethora of young players for the Hoyas, sharpening their craft.

Summer league provides hope for hoopaholics, like myself, who get itchy waiting for the first NBA exhibition game, months away. They are coast to coast. And worth seeking out, given that, beyond the NBA's Summer League, publicity isn't always given to them. But it's so worth the search. Happy hunting to each and every one of my fellow basketball fans, in seeking out summer league action in your community; may classic moments await you.

—Mark Bacon