Lakers’ Josh Hart Named 2018 Las Vegas Summer League MVP

This summer just keeps on getting better and better for the Los Angeles Lakers organization. In the beginning of July they obviously landed LeBron James among several other free agents, but things have continued to only get better. Management probably didn’t know what to expect from the Lakers’ squad heading into the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League as they lacked nearly their entire young core, but they didn’t disappoint.

Their main pieces were there last summer though, which resulted in a championship when they defeated the Trail Blazers by a score of 110-98. The second overall pick in the 2017 draft Lonzo Ball took home the league’s Most Valuable Player award and Kyle Kuzma was named the MVP of the Championship Game.

Tonight, the teams are once again fighting for the title. The odds are on the Lakers’ side once more, as Josh Hart was announced as MVP earlier today. He has been outstanding in the 6 games he’s played, averaging 24.2 points per game on 47% shooting as well as 5.2 rebounds. Hart also dropped a record 37 points last night in a 112-109 win over the Cavaliers last night to advance to the title game. 

In addition to being named Most Valuable Player, he was named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team (teammate Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was on the Second Team). The 23-year-old former Villanova guard and 2016 NCAA champion was drafted 30th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. In his rookie year, he averaged 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 63 games. This summer has been even more proof that the future is bright in Los Angeles, so bright that it will actually extend past LeBron’s stay. Hart will earn $1.6 million this upcoming season.