Reviewing Tamar Bates' Summer League Debut: The Extra Point

The former Missouri basketball guard has played his first NBA minutes.

Feb 5, 2025; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tamar Bates (2) gets ready to shoot a free throw against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Missouri On SI basketball reporter Killian Wright looks into Tamar Bates up-and-down NBA Summer League debut.

Welcome to Missouri Tigers On SI's "Extra Point," a video series featuring the site's Missouri beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers provide analysis on a topic concerning the Tigers or the landscape of college sports.

Tamar Bates took an NBA court for the first time last night, as he debuted for the Denver Nuggets Summer League squad. Like many young guards, Bates had his problems early on, but finished the game strong.

"It meant the world to be, honestly, because I'm fortunate to be a part of such a great organization," Bates said in an interview with Mizzou Athletics. "Now it's starting to set in a little bit more that I'm actually in the NBA, but I'm just grateful."

In his 17:45 minutes of action, Bates had eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting three-for-nine from the field – but that doesn't tell the whole story.

In his first two stints of action, Bates seemed a bit overwhelmed both physically and processing wise. He had trouble getting to his spots, getting moved off course by stronger defenders and losing his handle. He looked slightly indecisive at times, often making his choice after the defense had already telegraphed it, with both factors leading to his two turnovers in the second quarter.

However, quickly after these early growing pains, Bates scooped up a putback layup for his first points, got a steal the next possession and didn't look back.

"My shot wasn't necessarily falling in the first half, and I was able to continue to produce and give the team energy and make winning plays because the way the program was ran at Missouri," Bates said in the interview. "I'm just going to continue to build off of what I did today, and continue to hunt EGB's (Energy Generating Behaviors)."

His second half performance looked much more like the Bates that many had grown to know at Missouri. In his 8:12 second-half minutes, he shot two-for-four from the field for six points, racked up two steals and two assists for a solid performance.

Despite early game struggles, he still finished with the teams second-highest plus-minus, with seven, and the teams highest offensive rating with 136.1, proving his winning impact despite an 89-90 loss.

Bates performance may not have been perfect, but he showed plenty of promise and flashes to build upon for his remaining four games in Las Vegas.