SAN ANTONIO - For Tarris Reed Jr., the memory of back-to-school season starts with a trip he didn’t exactly enjoy.
Long before he was a Spurs rookie, Reed was the kid stuck wandering Walmart aisles with his mother, Darlene, trying to find notebooks in the days before school began.
"We used to always go two weeks before school started," Reed said, recounting an annual childhood memory with his mother, Darlene. "I hated it. I hated looking for notebooks."
This summer, Reed got to experience the season from a different angle. He and fellow Spurs rookies Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Maliq Brown and Jayden Quaintance spent Saturday afternoon at Frost Bank Center volunteering at the Spurs’ fifth annual Back to School Bash, a free event for local San Antonio families.
The bash has welcomed more than 14,000 attendees over its five-year run and offers students and educators school supplies, health screenings, haircuts and a range of support services, including enrollment information, extracurricular activities and family and mental health resources.
Spurs Sports and Entertainment Chief Impact & Inclusion Officer Patricia Mejia led the effort and joined the rookies on-site.
"It's incredible to see young families come in and see who they might see (the players)," Meija began, "seeing what backpacks they might get. It's really exciting ... every student deserves to begin the school year with the tools and confidence they need to succeed."
Reed kept his assignment simple: pencils. He said the role turned out to be a lot more fun than shopping for school supplies ever was when he was a kid.
"My job today was pencils," Reed said, smiling. "I've been giving out pencils. It's just been fun seeing the smiles on kids' faces ... they're seeing us, we're making their world."
The rookies’ appearance was their first since Summer League in Las Vegas, where the Summer Spurs, coached by assistant coach Corliss Williamson, went 4-1. Since then, their focus has shifted to training camp, which begins at the end of September.
Williamson, speaking in Las Vegas, said moments like Saturday matter for players just getting started in San Antonio.
"You hear a lot about the Spurs' organization from the outside," he said in Las Vegas, "but to actually be within it, experience it, it's wonderful ... the Spurs do everything the right way."
Reed said the experience gave him a new appreciation for those old family shopping trips, even if he didn’t love them at the time.
"The more I look back," Reed said, "those times with my mom (make it) great to be here."
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Harrison Barnes Deal May Signal A Bigger Spurs Deadline Plan
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Barnes cannot be traded until December 15, so this is not an immediate relocation play, but it does give the Spurs another movable piece once the calendar opens up. If the season pushes them toward a different path, his contract could end up being part of a larger package, and that is what makes this signing worth watching beyond the surface-level fit. [Read more 🡒]