The NBA 2K25 Summer League tips off in Las Vegas at 3 p.m. CDT Friday, when the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic square off in the first of 76 games over the next 11 days.
Each of the 30 NBA teams will play at least five games with rosters stocked with its young players, draft picks and auditioning prospects. Two teams will play a sixth game – the league’s championship contest at 8 p.m. July 22.
Among the many players hoping to make a positive impression to set up his 2024-25 season is guard Kira Lewis Jr., who’ll play for the Houston Rockets.
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A former Hazel Green High School star who played two seasons at Alabama, Lewis entered the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans as the 13th pick in the 2020 draft. Through four NBA seasons, Lewis has averaged 5.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest.
Lewis’ NBA career was sidetracked on Dec. 8, 2021, when he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament tear and medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee against the Denver Nuggets. To that point in his NBA career, Lewis had played in 78 games. Since the injury, he’s played in 53 in the NBA.
In the 2023-24 season, Lewis was traded twice, going from New Orleans to the Toronto Raptors to the Utah Jazz. Lewis became an unrestricted free agent when Utah did not make him a contract offer by June 29.
The players from Alabama high schools and colleges on NBA 2K25 Summer League rosters with their 2023-24 season stats include:
· Orlando Magic center Charles Bediako (Alabama): Bediako averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17 games with the NBA G League’s Austin Spurs.
· Los Angeles Clippers forward Kobe Brown (Lee-Huntsville): Brown averaged 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 22 games with the NBA G League’s Ontario Clippers and 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 44 games with the Los Angeles Clippers.
· Brooklyn Nets forward/center Noah Clowney (Alabama): Clowney averaged 15.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in 34 games with the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets and 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 23 games with the Brooklyn Nets.
· Boston Celtics guard JD Davison (Calhoun, Alabama): Davison averaged 21.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 49 games with the NBA G League’s Maine Celtics and 2.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in eight games with the Boston Celtics.
· Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (Alabama): Ellis averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 57 games with the Kings.
· Detroit Pistons guard Aaron Estrada (Alabama): Estrada averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 37 games with Alabama.
· Golden State Warriors forward Allen Flanigan (Auburn): Flanigan averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals in 32 games with Ole Miss.
· Memphis Grizzlies center Trey Jemison (Hoover, UAB): Jemison averaged 10.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocked shots in 25 games with the NBA G League’s Birmingham Squadron and 6.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocked shots in 25 NBA games (two with the Washington Wizards and 23 with the Grizzlies).
· Sacramento Kings guard Colby Jones (Mountain Brook): Jones averaged 18.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals in 22 games with the NBA G League’s Stockton Kings and 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 30 games with the Sacramento Kings.
· Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (Auburn): Kessler averaged 8.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots in 64 games with the Jazz.
· Houston Rockets guard Kira Lewis Jr. (Hazel Green, Alabama): Lewis averaged 16.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.9 steals in 13 games in the NBA G League (six with the Birmingham Squadron and seven with Raptors 905) and 3.2 points and 1.3 assists in 28 games in the NBA (15 with the New Orleans Pelicans, one with the Toronto Raptors and 12 with the Utah Jazz).
· Charlotte Hornets forward/guard Brandon Miller (Alabama): Miller averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 74 games with the Hornets.
· New Orleans Pelicans guard Trhae Mitchell (South Alabama): Mitchell averaged 6.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in 50 games with the NBA G League’s Rio Grande Vipers.
· Orlando Magic guard Xavier Moon (Central-Coosa): Moon averaged 19.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots in 31 games with the NBA G League’s Ontario Clippers and 2.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 14 games with the Los Angeles Clippers.
· Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jaden Shackelford (Alabama): Shackleford averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 56 games with the NBA G League’s Oklahoma City Blue.
· Denver Nuggets guard Au’Diese Toney (Columbia): Toney averaged 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals in 40 games with the NBA G League’s Grand Rapids Gold.
· Denver Nuggets forward Jaylin Williams (Auburn): Williams averaged 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 34 games with Auburn.
· Houston Rockets guard/forward Vonterius Woolbright (Lawson State): Woolbright averaged 21.1 points, 12.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 32 games with Western Carolina.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.