The NBA Summer League got underway at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas Friday night. Many NBA stars were there to see a matchup between Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, two of the top three picks in this year’s draft. The night was going as expected until the 7:53 mark of the fourth quarter of New Orleans Pelicans and the New York Knicks game. The Thomas and Mack Center started to shake and the crowd started to stand and head for the exits. A 7.1 earthquake had hit Ridgecrest, Calif, some 150 miles away.
The teams on the floor stopped and it took them a minute to understand the building was swaying, and they calmly headed for the locker room. The game was put on hold as a speaker up high by the scoreboard was still swaying and looked unsafe.
The Orlando Magic and the San Antonio Spurs inside the smaller Cox Pavilion, next to T&M Center, went on as planned but was also stopped at the fourth quarter mark. It was at this point the NBA decided it was too unsafe, “Safety comes first, second, third,” NBA summer league executive director Warren LeGarie said. The rest of the games scheduled including the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns were canceled and will not be made up.
NBA players had their reactions to the quake as well;
Just experienced my first earthquake while being on the 21st floor of a hotel. Talk about scary— Evan Turner (@thekidet) July 6, 2019
Earthquake had me like… pic.twitter.com/r55GiETcMK— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) July 6, 2019
Bruhhhh this earthquake tho!!!!!!— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 6, 2019
This is just the start to what could be the craziest year in the NBA in a long time. The NBA this offseason has seen what many believe to be the biggest shake-up of talent in many years. If it is half as exciting as Friday night then it looks to be a great season ahead.
