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Ja'Kobi Gillespie's shooting didn't tell the full story of his San Antonio Spurs summer league debut.
The former Tennessee guard, picked No. 42 in this year's draft, scored just 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range, in the Spurs' 88-87 loss to the Miami Heat on July 3.
Despite his struggles from the field, he still played a team-high 28 minutes and posted a game-high eight assists, plus four rebounds, three steals and only one turnover. His shot wasn't falling, but he ran San Antonio's offense well as its primary ball handler.
Miami led wire-to-wire in the opener of the California Classic, the first of three summer leagues that kick off the NBA's 2026 offseason showcase.
Gillespie arrives to the pros off a productive lone season at Tennessee. The 6-foot guard started all 37 games and averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals on 41% shooting from the field and 33.8% from 3.
That All-SEC season landed him in the NBA draft, alongside teammates Nate Ament, who went No. 13 overall to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, and Felix Okpara, taken No. 46 by Orlando before being traded to Washington.
Gillespie is one of three former Vols players on San Antonio's roster, joining Zakai Zeigler and Igor Miličić Jr. Neither of them played in the opener. That trio is among the seven former Tennessee players on NBA summer league rosters this month.
Zeigler and Miličić figure to see more playing time. Summer league rosters typically rotate players more often than in the regular season, and draft picks like Gillespie could see their workload reduced the deeper the exhibition slate goes.
San Antonio continues California Classic play July 5 against Golden State's Gold roster. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET at Chase Center in San Francisco.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Here's how former Tennessee guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie did in NBA Summer League debut
Continue reading...
The former Tennessee guard, picked No. 42 in this year's draft, scored just 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range, in the Spurs' 88-87 loss to the Miami Heat on July 3.
Despite his struggles from the field, he still played a team-high 28 minutes and posted a game-high eight assists, plus four rebounds, three steals and only one turnover. His shot wasn't falling, but he ran San Antonio's offense well as its primary ball handler.
Miami led wire-to-wire in the opener of the California Classic, the first of three summer leagues that kick off the NBA's 2026 offseason showcase.
Gillespie arrives to the pros off a productive lone season at Tennessee. The 6-foot guard started all 37 games and averaged 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals on 41% shooting from the field and 33.8% from 3.
That All-SEC season landed him in the NBA draft, alongside teammates Nate Ament, who went No. 13 overall to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, and Felix Okpara, taken No. 46 by Orlando before being traded to Washington.
Gillespie is one of three former Vols players on San Antonio's roster, joining Zakai Zeigler and Igor Miličić Jr. Neither of them played in the opener. That trio is among the seven former Tennessee players on NBA summer league rosters this month.
Zeigler and Miličić figure to see more playing time. Summer league rosters typically rotate players more often than in the regular season, and draft picks like Gillespie could see their workload reduced the deeper the exhibition slate goes.
San Antonio continues California Classic play July 5 against Golden State's Gold roster. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET at Chase Center in San Francisco.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Here's how former Tennessee guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie did in NBA Summer League debut
Continue reading...
