ORLANDO, Fla.
Andre Johnson Womens Jersey . -- Alex Martins
full-time job is CEO of the Orlando Magic. But throughout the season, the
52-year-old has another role that comes into focus once the NBA calendar turns
to July. Martins serves as the gatekeeper for the Orlando Summer League, the
less-publicized and more exclusive summer locale for NBA teams to check out
their newest draft picks and younger players trying to find a way into the
league.We have a waiting list of teams right now that would love to get in,
Martins told ESPN.com recently.The Magic executive didnt say this in boastful
way. In fact, he went out of his way to say that he and the rest of his staff
wanted to work alongside the NBA and the organizers of the Vegas Summer League
to make sure they werent stepping on any toes. But Orlando has turned into the
preferred destination for many around the league, away from the glitz and glamor
of the Vegas Strip.How did this happen?Back in 2002, Martins and the Magic staff
were looking to try something different. The Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets
and Miami Heat joined up with the Magic, and the Orlando Summer League was up
and running.Vegas is very productive and the teams that go out there love it and
enjoy it and they get benefit out of it, Martins said. But we wanted to create
an environment that was really just all about basketball. In a basketball
setting, not an arena-type setting. Where the media and scouts and team
officials could access and watch and evaluate, but confined to that group. Over
the years, what weve been told by the teams that participate here is that they
really love that environment. They love the fact that its just all about
basketball. And thats not speaking negatively about Vegas in any means -- this
is just different.In Vegas, teams play in the Thomas & Mack Center and the
Cox Pavilion, much larger venues, which serve as the home to the UNLV mens and
womens basketball teams. In 2002, the Magic started the Orlando league in the
RDV Sportsplex on the practice floor the Magic used. In 2010, the Magic moved
the league to the new Amway Center, but maintained the cozy atmosphere by still
using their practice floor in the new structure, not the arena floor itself.The
biggest difference in atmosphere, besides the cities themselves, is that the
Orlando Summer League is not open to the public. The only people who can gain
access are team or league personnel, agents, scouts and media. The Vegas Summer
League, and now the even smaller Utah Summer League, are both open to fans. The
Orlando games are broadcast on NBA TV and streamed on ESPN3 but there are only a
couple hundred people in attendance in the small gym.Detroit Pistons coach and
head of basketball operations, Stan Van Gundy, loves the set up in Orlando. I
like the environment for players, Van Gundy said. I like the environment that
its not public so you dont have a lot of people coming in. I think they can
concentrate on their game more. I like this as a city a lot more than Las Vegas,
Utah would probably be the same, but a few less distractions. I think they just
run a really, really well-organized league. You can just come here and get to
work. Well have been here 12 days, and its 12 good work days with great
organization and no distractions.Part of the charm of the Orlando league is in
its quaintness. In Vegas, league personnel are spread out in hotels on the Vegas
Strip. In Orlando, many players and coaches can walk back and forth to the arena
from the hotels located nearby. Coaches and executives can come and go as they
please without being hassled by fans.Since its inception in 2002, the Orlando
league has grown to a nine-team venture (the Magic have a Blue Team and a White
Team to even out the schedule to 10) and has developed a loyal following. Like
Van Gundy, who coached the Magic from 2007-12, Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing sung
the praises of the league. Ewing, who coached the Charlotte Hornets summer
league entry, served on Van Gundys Magic staff.I enjoy coming to Orlando, Ewing
said. Ive lived there, I think its great. I like the fact that this one, you get
in, you get your work done, and then you leave.Martins says the Magic dont make
any money off the league itself, but the exposure for both the organization and
the Orlando area is important.Theres no financial benefit to us, Martins said.
The way it works is every team has an entry fee, and we ask basically the teams
that participate just to cover all the costs. We have everything. We feed the
media, we feed all the personnel that are here. We have expenses associated with
using the building, etc. So we just charge an entry fee so that we cover all
that. The entry fee is around $10,000-15,000 depending on the year.While there
has been some talk about expanding the league in the future, Martins says there
hasnt been much talk about opening the league up to the public. The only
exception came in 2003 when LeBron James played his first professional game as a
member of the Cleveland Cavaliers Summer League team. Aside from the sellout
crowd at the old Amway Center, that game will always be remembered as the one in
which former Utah alum Britton Johnsen, playing for the Magics summer league
team, dunked on James.Theres always room for that special situation, Martins
said. Like the year that LeBron came out and we took the game to the old Amway
Arena. But beyond that, again, the beauty of this specific summer league is that
it is all about basketball. Its about basketball personnel, both from the
administrative side as well as the competitive side and the playing side. And
thats what everybody loves about coming here.
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.Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week
honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. SALT LAKE
CITY -- A former Utah State football player who was dropped by the Atlanta
Falcons in August over multiple sexual assault allegations was charged Thursday
with rape, assault and kidnapping.The Cache County Attorneys Office filed
charges against 22-year-old Torrey Green after spending several months
re-reviewing allegations that multiple women made against Green during his time
at Utah State.Green now faces four separate rape charges and charges of
aggravated kidnapping and forcible sexual abuse over allegations dating from
2013 through this year.Green was arrested Thursday in California and will be
extradited to Utah to face the charges, the county attorneys office said in a
statement.He did not have a listed attorney and his spokesman Zack Teperman
declined to comment Thursday. No number was listed for Green to reach him for
comment.After the county attorneys office confirmed the investigation in August,
Teperman said Green believed he would be found innocent.The county attorneys
office said it was reviewing the matter this summer after The Salt Lake Tribune
reported the allegations in July and that several of the investigations against
Green had been closed. Green was not named in the Tribunes original story in
July but gave the paper an interview where he denied the allegations, saying
they had been blown out of proportion and that everyone makes mistakes.When news
of the allegations broke in August, the Falcons dropped Green, a rookie free
agent linebaccker.
J.J. Watt Texans Jersey. Cache County
District Attorney James Swink did not return a message Thursday seeking more
details about the charges but said in a statement that his office investigated
nine separate cases against Green.Utah State said this summer that it would look
at how the school handled allegations in the Green case while it was undergoing
a broader review of the way the university investigates sexual assault.Citing
confidentiality rules, the school has declined to say when it first learned of
allegations against Green, some of which were lodged by fellow students, or any
specifics about how the allegations were investigated.In a statement in late
August, the school said it generally found no victims were discouraged from
reporting an assault or pursuing an investigation and no athletes received
special treatment. The school said it would work to improve its reporting
policies and communication with local police.The school also recently began
posting ads around campus designed to inform students about what exactly
constitutes consensual sex.Utah State spokesman Tim Vitale said Thursday that
the school has cooperated with law enforcement and Utah State police worked with
the other investigators.The Herald Journal in Logan first reported the charges
Thursday.Green, who is from Rubidoux, California, graduated from Utah State this
spring.
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