The Utah Jazz Summer League was introduced for the first time in 2015, marking the first summer league to be played in Utah since the Rocky Mountain Revue was last held in 2008. Four teams participated in a round-robin format from July 6 to 9, 2015. No tournament was held, nor was there a champion named, but the Utah Jazz had the best record of the four teams, as they went undefeated with a 3–0 record. All four teams (Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs) also participated in the Las Vegas Summer League.
The Las Vegas NBA Summer League is the official summer league of the NBA. It is the premier summer league of the three, with a total of 23 teams, plus a Select Team from the NBA Development League, participating. A total of 67 games were played from July 10 to 20, 2015, across two different venues, the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, both located in Paradise, Nevada (near Las Vegas). The San Antonio Spurs won the championship by defeating the Phoenix Suns in the championship game, 93–90. Kyle Anderson was named the league's Most Valuable Player, with Jonathon Simmons of the Spurs being named the Championship Game MVP. The Spurs championship was historic, as they were coached by Becky Hammon, the first full-time female assistant coach in the NBA.
Orlando Pro Summer League
Each team played five games. Points were awarded to teams to determine the final standings. According to NBA.com the point system works like this: each game consists of eight possible points; four points for winning the game and one point for winning a quarter (in the event of a tied quarter, each team will receive 0.5 points). In the event of ties in seeding heading into championship day, three tiebreakers will be in place: 1) total point differential; 2) total points allowed; 3) coin flip.[2]
Each team played one game on the league's final day for either first, third, fifth, seventh or ninth place.
Seeding criteria
The seeding was determined by a team's total points after the first five days. Eight points were awarded in each game: four points for winning a game and one point for every quarter a team won. In the event of a tied quarter, each team is awarded half a point.[3] If two or more teams had equal points, then the following tiebreakers applied:
Each odd-numbered seed was paired with the team seeded immediately below it. For example, the top two seeds played in the championship game, the third and fourth seeds played in the third-place game, etc.
A total of 67 games will be played between 24 teams. The league consists of a preliminary round (July 10–14) and an elimination tournament (July 15–16 and July 18–20). Teams will be seeded after the preliminary round for the elimination tournament.[8]
Teams are seeded first by overall record, then by a tiebreaker system
Head-to-head result (applicable only to ties between two teams, not to multiple-team ties)
Quarter point system (1 point for win, .5 for tie, 0 for loss, 0 for overtime periods)
Point differential
Coin flip
The head-to-head result is extremely unlikely to apply in determining seeding, since the teams play only three games before being seeded. It is impossible for two teams to both be 3-0 or 0-3 and have played one another. It is also very unlikely that exactly two teams and no others finish either 2-1 or 1-2 and for those two teams to have played one another. Even in the situation where there is a multiple-team tie and some but not all the teams have superior or inferior quarter points, the remaining teams look first to the point differential even if only two teams remain. Unlike tiebreak criteria often found in sports leagues, multiple-team ties that are reduced to two teams by progression through the tiebreaker steps are not returned to the first step of the two-team tiebreaker.
First-round losers played consolation games to determine 17th through 24th places based on the tiebreaker system stated above. Second-round losers played consolation games to determine ninth through 16th places.