Behind the Scenes in L.A., the Wide-Ranging Summer World for NBA Players

September 18th, 2015 by Jared Zwerling Leave a reply »

Magic Johnson's arrival in 1979 signifies, to many, the birth of the modern NBA, when the league left its financial and off-court struggles behind to become the multibillion-dollar enterprise it is today. It seems appropriate, in that light, that Johnson also helped make his then-new hometown, Los Angeles, the epicenter for the NBA's offseason.

While Johnson was at the beginning of NBA superstardom, Kiki Vandeweghe was the main attraction at UCLA. And with the help of a former Lakers ball boy named Adam Mills, a teenager living across the street from the UCLA campus who frequented the Bruins' basketball gym to rebound for the players, the three made UCLA the place to be in the summer for the best NBA pickup games, especially through the 1980s.

Johnson invited his Lakers teammates and NBA friends, Vandeweghe rounded up his Bruins buddies, and Mills organized the runs while arranging access for NBA coaches and general managers. It was the start of L.A.'s evolution into the most popular basketball, business and entertainment landscape for NBA players in the offseason.

"On one team, you had guys like Magic, [Michael] Cooper, M ...

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