Way after midnight with the Wizards

At least it did tonight, where a crowd of somewhere between 3,500-4,000 filled up half of Patriot Center at George Mason to see the Washington Wizards open training camp.

And if the practice itself was any indication of the season to come, get ready for Gilbert Arenas and John Wall to trade highlights on nearly every possession – even if Arenas still refuses to smile or demonstrate that he’s actually enjoying himself except on rare occasions.

Carrying on from his grinless media day appearance, Arenas raced through the introduction line in the darkened arena and quickly ducked behind Andray Blatche when a camera moved in for a close-up. Wall, who got him to smile with and showed that pair already has some sort of special handshake, could barely keep from dancing – although there was no second act of the John Wall Dance that became a YouTube sensation last year (and helped inspire Wizards owner Ted Leonsis to stage tonight’s event).

Wall then starred in lay-up lines with a bevy of dunks, both he and Arenas had a chance to lead their respective teams in sprints after losing 3-on-2 sessions, and then the two traded playmaking once the 5-on-5 scrimmages began.

“We had a great time,” said Wall. “It wasn’t really structured. The coach, he just let us play tonight. Tomorrow the 2 o’clock practice is about business for the season.”

Wall crossed over Adam Morrison badly and swished a 20-foot jumper. Arenas blew by whoever was guarding him, repeatedly drew contact in the lane and then nailed a banked in a long 3-pointer off an inbounds pass over Nick Young at the buzzer. Wall chased down Lester Hudson and blocked him from behind off the backboard. Wall and Arenas also got some run together in front of an audience that included all of the Wizards front office, including Leonsis, as well as George Mason head coach Jim Larranaga and even Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who is a close friend of Wizards head coach Flip Saunders.

“I was talking to Gil, this is my first time ever playing this late. It was fun, getting a chance to go up and down, wake myself up with dunks and stuff,” said Young.

“I think it’s exactly what the team needed, a kind of jolt of adrenaline,” said Leonsis. “This is where our fan base is, Northern Virginia, just like the Caps. So we want to market here. We want to make this home, and the people at George Mason University have been unbelievably supportive. This is a big crowd, and I think when the players came out, they were very shocked and very happy.”

“Players love to play in front of people,” said Saunders, who was among those surprised by the turnout, “and so when you have a big crowd, they get more juiced up.”