A lot of basketball this week, if you're interested in Bojan Bogdanovic, Nets draft choice. He plays five games in six nights and will go up against NBA talent in Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum and Luol Deng in the London Invitational Tournament at the new basketball arena in Olympic Park. No indication the games will be streamed live.
Then, at the weekend, the big event: the wedding of the year, the century, the millennium. Nets officials, apparently with the blessing of the NBA, will fly to Montecito, CA for the Humphries-Kardashian nuptials. Will Mikhail Prokhorov drop in? We shall see.
August 16 - August 20 - London Invitational Tournament, London. Six teams, including Bojan Bogdanovic's Croatia, will participate in a six-team exhibition tourney prior to their play in FIBA's international qualifying tournaments. Serbia, China, Australia, France and Great Britain also participating. Five games in six nights.
August 20 - Kris Humphries marries Kim Kardashian in Montecito, CA, near Santa Barbara. The wedding will be taped for a special edition of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". See below.
August 27 - Deron Williams and Kyle Korver Dodgeball Tournament, Lehi, UT. Expect D-Will to talk about the lockout and Turkey.
August 31 - September 18 - FIBA Eurobasket, Lithuania. Bogdanovic's big summer stage. He has done well in previous international tournaments as a member of Team Croatia. First games will be held in Altyus, Lithuania, with the championship round in the capital of Vilnius.
September 1 - D-Will has to be in Istanbul for Besiktas training camp.
September 8 - Expected start date for installation of Barclays Center roofing atop the arena's latticework framing, itself underway.
September 27 - Besiktas opens season with important EuroCup game vs Dexia Mons-Hainaut of Belgium at the BJK Akatlar Turka Cola arena (capacity 3,200). Deron Williams' home debut.
October 1 - NBA training camps will have to be delayed or canceled.
October 4 - Besiktas plays Dexia Mons-Hainaut at the Mons Arena (capacity 3,700) in Belgium.
October 7 - October 9 - Turkish Cup Tournament in Istanbul. Bogdanovic plays for Fenerbahce Ulker of Istanbul; ex-Net Sasha Vujacic plays for Efes of Istanbul
October 9 - October 10 - "Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event" on E! Two hours, Two nights. Too much.
October 15 - Drop-dead date for losing regular season games. In 1998 lockout, the league canceled the first two weeks of the regular season on October 13.
October 15 - Opening Night of Turkish League. Williams plays for Besiktas, Bogdanovic plays for Fenerbahce Ulker of Istanbul; Vujacic plays for Efes Andalou, all of Istanbul.
October 20 - Euroleague opens this weekend. Will any other Nets players be on European (or Chinese) rosters? Jordan Farmar plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Bogdanovic and Vujacic's teams play in Euroleague as well as Turkish League.
October 31 - If lockout is over and teams are preparing for a November 1 opening night, this is the day the Nets have to decide on Stephen Graham's contract.
November 1 - Likely date for D-League Draft (which is done by conference call).
November 2 - If no lockout, Nets open season, their last in New Jersey, with a road game in Washington.
November 5 - If no lockout, Nets' home opener, vs. Pistons at Prudential Center.
November 7 - D-League preseason normally begins this week, so expect Springfield Armor to begin play with Nets staffers. D-League preseason schedule has yet to be released.
November 15 - First missed paycheck for most NBA players. Most players are paid bi-weekly and their contracts run basically on the same schedule as the season. Some players get paid in a lump sum, others on an annual basis, meaning their last paycheck with July 1.
November 25 - Springfield Armor Opening Night, at home.
December 4 - Russian parliamentary elections. If Prokhorov's Pravoe Delo party wins 7% of the vote, the party will enter the Duma (Russia's parliament) for the first time and Prokhorov has said he will move his offices to the Duma building.
January 6 - If no agreement by this date, expect the entire 2011-12 season will be canceled.