the shaw's pro summer league was announced in 1999 as an off-season development league hosted by the boston celtics at clark athletic center on the campus of the university of massachusetts boston. along with the celtics, the league featured the indiana pacers, new jersey nets, new york knicks, philadelphia 76ers, washington wizards and seattle supersonics. there was also a select team of members of the 1999 german men's national basketball team. tickets for the league were $8, which was good for two games. shaw's, a grocery store chain, gave away 11,000 tickets in conjunction with the united way of massachusetts bay.