{"id":779247,"date":"2026-07-04T20:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779247\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T20:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:49:11","slug":"why-the-spurs-rookies-summer-league-debuts-went-as-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779247\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Spurs rookies’ Summer League debuts went as planned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vladislav<\/p>\n

Vladislav Goldin (50)\u00a0of the Miami Heat and Tarris Reed Jr. (10) of the San Antonio Spurs battle for a rebound during the second half in the California Classic, an NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Thirty years later, Spurs assistant coach Corliss Williamson doesn\u2019t recall the specifics of his NBA Summer League debut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

All he really remembers is that he was an absolute chucker.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was going to shoot the ball every time,\u201d Williamson said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Back then, Williamson\u2019s situation was different than those facing the collection of Spurs rookies he is leading this week at the California Classic in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Due to the first-ever NBA lockout in 1995, there was no Summer League for Williamson to participate in as a rookie.<\/p>\n

By the time he was able to take the summer stage with the Sacramento Kings in 1996, Williamson had already played in 53 NBA games the season before.<\/p>\n

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There was no such advantage for the trio of 2026 draft picks who made their summer league debuts in the Spurs\u2019 white-knuckle 88-87 loss to Miami at the Chase Center on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"Tarris<\/p>\n

Tarris Reed Jr. of the San Antonio Spurs looks to shoot inside against\u00a0Vladislav Goldin of the Miami Heat during the second half in the California Classic, an NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026, in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images\"Ja'Kobi<\/p>\n

Ja’Kobi Gillespie of the San Antonio Spurs shoots a three-point shot over Jahmir Young of the Miami Heat during the second half in the California Classic, an\u00a0NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images\"Ja'Kobi<\/p>\n

Ja’Kobi Gillespie (17) of the San Antonio Spurs shoots over Ryan Conwell (7) of the Miami Heat during the second half in the California Classic a NBA Summer League game at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images\"Tarris<\/p>\n

Tarris Reed Jr. of the San Antonio Spurs looks to pass the ball against the Miami Heat during the second half in the California Classic a\u00a0NBA Summer League game at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images\"Ja'Kobi<\/p>\n

Ja’Kobi Gillespie, left,\u00a0of the San Antonio Spurs defends Jahmir Young of the Miami Heat during the first half in the California Classic, an NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tarris Reed Jr., Ja\u2019Kobi Gillespie and Maliq Brown all had their moments in their first game in silver and black.<\/p>\n

None of them, however, necessarily stole the show. This was not a surprise to their coach.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe expect for there to be some rough patches there,\u201d Williamson said.<\/p>\n

Reed, the statuesque 6-11 center from Connecticut the Spurs selected 26th overall, airballed a left-wing 3-pointer in his first NBA attempt.<\/p>\n

He finished 3-of-10 from the floor for 10 points and \u2014 as advertised \u2014 led the team with seven rebounds.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Spurs’ four rookies sign deals ahead of NBA Summer League<\/a><\/p>\n

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Reed\u2019s approach to his first Summer League game had little to do with the numbers in the box score.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust get my feet wet, go out there and compete,\u201d Reed said. \u201cGo out there and play hard and live with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gillespie, the 6-foot-1 sharpshooter from Tennessee whom the Spurs grabbed with the 42nd pick in the second round, struggled to find his range.<\/p>\n

Like Reed, Gillespie scored 10 points but went 3 of 17 from the field. Also as advertised, Gillespie led the Spurs with eight assists while snagging three steals.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m still confident in my shot,\u201d said Gillespie, who averaged 18.3 points as a college senior. \u201cThey didn\u2019t fall like I wanted them to, but I\u2019m still confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown, the 6-9 forward the Spurs snagged out of Duke with the No. 44 pick in the second round, had perhaps the most well-rounded debut of the bunch.<\/p>\n

\"Maliq<\/p>\n

Maliq Brown #15 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots a three-point shot against the Miami Heat during the second half in the California Classic, an NBA Summer League game, at Chase Center on July 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California.<\/p>\n

Thearon W. Henderson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

He matched the Spurs\u2019 other two draftees with 10 points, but did it on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting performance. Brown was 2-of-4 from 3-point range, a facet that was not necessarily a part of his game as a collegian.<\/p>\n

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On top of that, Brown flashed some of the defensive versatility that attracted the Spurs to him in the first place, toggling between the forward and center positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefense is always where I would hang my hat,\u201d Brown said. \u201cPaying attention to Spurs culture and know how they play basketball, I definitely can fit in with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The highlight for the Spurs\u2019 rookie class Friday came midway through the fourth quarter, when Gillespie found Brown for an alley-oop dunk that cut the Spurs\u2019 deficit to 76-74.<\/p>\n

MORE SPURS: How an arcade machine and a teddy bear foretold future for Tarris Reed Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

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All in all, Williamson expected uneven performances from the rookie class, who had not played organized basketball since the NCAA tournament ended in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it is shaking off rust, and maybe some jitters,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cYou finally make it to the NBA, you miss some of these chippy shots you\u2019re capable of making.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing we\u2019re happy about is the guys continued to compete and continued to fight,\u201d Williamson added.<\/p>\n

For the Spurs group of incoming rookies, the best thing about Friday\u2019s Summer League game is that there are more games to come, beginning with a contest Sunday against Golden State at the Chase Center.<\/p>\n

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The way Williamson sees it, the purpose of Summer League for an incoming rookie is more mental than physical.<\/p>\n

The goal is to prepare them for the start of their first NBA training camp in the fall.<\/p>\n

\"Play\"Why<\/p>\n

Jayden Quaintance might be one of the biggest boom-or-bust prospects in this year’s NBA Draft \u2014 and the Spurs were willing to bet on the upside. On the latest episode of our Spurs Insider podcast, we discuss why San Antonio took the gamble on the 18-year-old big man. Watch the full episode on our channel.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to see if they can grasp the concepts and our principles defensively and offensively,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what Summer League is for, to get them acclimated to how you\u2019re going to play during the regular season.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In that, Williamson believes the Spurs\u2019 new rookies won Friday, even in defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of their attitudes and their personalities,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cThey come in willing to accept coaching. They\u2019re willing to adjust and do the things they need to do to be successful at this level. It\u2019s all about being open-minded and ready to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three decades later, Williamson\u2019s first Summer League in Long Beach, Calif., is remembered for the moment a 17-year-old Kobe Bryant made his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

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Years from now, Williamson is willing to bet nobody is going to remember Ja\u2019Kobi Gillespie missing 14 shots in his Summer League debut.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019re going to have your struggles,\u201d Williamson said. \u201cEvery rookie does, even the great ones. It\u2019s just a matter of them continuing to pound the rock and things work out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vladislav Goldin (50)\u00a0of the Miami Heat and Tarris Reed Jr. (10) of the San Antonio Spurs battle for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-779247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}