FanHouse Summer League

ORLANDO -- Rookie James Harden, the No. 3 pick in the 2009 Draft, is a smart guy who will become a fine player as he grows up with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But the NBA Summer League may be giving him a false sense of security. As an NBA shooting guard, he will learn quickly that not everyone in his position puts their pants on one leg at a time.

When he starts trying to defend the likes of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, he may find himself a little more blistered than he thinks.

"Kobe is the best player in the world, but he laces up his shoes just like I lace up mine,'' Harden said earlier this week. "Sure, I'll get a welcome-to-the-NBA moment, but it's just basketball. I've played against him before [in the summer]. I won't be intimidated.''

The NBA's Vegas Summer League has gone from cult favorite for hungry hoops die-hards to must-watch action for any basketball fan in just a few years. Thousands make the trek to Las Vegas every July to take in the glory of organized chaos that is Summer League, and thousands more watch every second on their computer monitors.

For the past two seasons, the league broadcast every VSL game for free on the web. But this season, the NBA has turned back to its old method, charging fans to watch the games. From 2003-06, the league offered VSL games via paid subscription, as it will this year. (It's $15 for 55 games. Competition begins Friday.) It's disappointing -- fans pay for so much during the season, from tickets to jerseys to parking to League Pass -- but it's hard to argue that, given VSL's new-found fame, the league should be guilted into bypassing a legit revenue stream. I mean, someone's got to pay Anderson Varejao's new contract!

ORLANDO -- Larry Bird won't get the salary cap space and the star he needs in Indiana until the summer of 2011. But in the meantime, he has a pretty clear plan: Assemble the supporting cast first.

A normally impatient man is preaching patience now.

"Looking at the teams like the Lakers, Cleveland, Orlando, they are pretty damn good. We can't compete with that now on a night-to-night basis,'' said Bird, the Pacers President of Basketball Operations. "Not now, but we will. The ultimate goal is to win a championship. It's just not going to happen overnight.''

For just the second time since the NBA adopted a salary cap in 1984-85, the cap will decline from the previous year. David Stern first hinted at the possibility during the All-Star break, and the league officially confirmed the news late Tuesday night.

According to the official release: "the Salary Cap for the 2009-10 season will be $57.7 million. The tax level for the 2009-10 season has been set at $69.92 million." For those scoring at home, that's down from $58.68 million and $71.15 million, respectively, in 2008-09.

ORLANDO – Second-year forward Ryan Anderson was almost invisible when he joined the Magic alongside All-Star Vince Carter in the trade last month with New Jersey.

He is making his presence felt now.

Anderson has been the early star of the Orlando Pro Summer League, showing why he should fit quite nicely on a team that relies heavily on good shooters surrounding a dominating center like Dwight Howard.

Anderson hit 11 of 15 shots – both his 3-point attempts -- for 33 points and 15 rebounds in the Magic's 85-82 victory over the Boston Celtics. On Monday against Oklahoma City, he had 21 points and seven rebounds after struggling through the opening half.

ORLANDO -- A lot of people think that changes made in Cleveland and Boston – getting Shaquille O'Neal via trade and Rasheed Wallace in free agency, respectively – have made the Cavaliers and the Celtics the co-favorites in the Eastern Conference this season.

Vince Carter and Dwight Howard don't believe it.

"I still like us [as favorites],'' Carter said defiantly Tuesday.

Carter, who was acquired in a trade with New Jersey last month, and Howard, the All-Star center, have been highly-visible spectators at the Orlando Pro Summer League that is comprised mostly by rookies and young free agents hoping to be invited into someone's training camp in the fall.

ORLANDO -- Marcin Gortat came to watch the Orlando Magic Summer League team out of habit on Monday. It was like he couldn't stay away.

Gortat may be signing a new free agent contract Wednesday with the Dallas Mavericks, but he came to the RDV Sportsplex to watch the Pro Summer League and say goodbye to many of his friends.

Gortat is expected to receive a five-year, $33 million contract, a far cry from playing the last four years on the Magic's Summer League team of rookies and hopeful longshots.

ORLANDO – He's only 23 years old, but Shaun Livingston already sounds like such an old soul. There is a good reason. He's been to basketball hell and back.

Livingston is continuing his miraculous comeback here -- from that horrific knee injury he suffered in the 2006-07 season -- at the Orlando Pro Summer League, hoping to earn a roster spot next season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He may never be the player he once was projected to be, but just seeing him on the court moving well again should be an inspiration to anyone trying to return from an injury.

"I'm not a success story yet,'' he said after his seven-point, six assist performance in a Thunder victory over the Magic Monday. "But I will be.''

ORLANDO -- The last time Tyler Hansbrough played a game, there were 70,000 people in attendance and a national television audience watching the NCAA Championship.

This was a little different.

Hansbrough, the Atlantic Coast Conference all-time leading scorer from UNC, made his professional debut Monday for the Indiana Pacers at the Orlando Pro Summer League.

There were 300 people in the gym when the Pacers beat a Nets/Sixers combo team. He played in a reserve role – he said for the first time since his freshman year of high school.

"It was a change. There weren't a lot of people in the stands yelling at me, telling me how bad I was,'' Hansbrough played. "I had kind of gotten used to that. It always motivated me.''

The NBA kicked off its summer league action today, with seven teams throwing six squads out there to compete for five days in Orlando, Fla. (New Jersey and Philadelphia are sharing a team, for some reason).

The basketball is mostly unwatchable, but there's one good reason to check it out: the guys that are calling the action are freaking hilarious.

Dante and Galante were great last year, and they've wasted no time in getting right back to the funny this year. Check out the following clip of the guys ripping on Celtics' GM Danny Ainge for going with the dreaded socks-and-sandals combination as part of his casual attire on the sidelines.