Tarris Reed was baptized after his NBA debut
The Spurs center wrote to his pastor from the plane, and shared that in April two women's basketball players were baptized after he spoke at a meeting.
Tarris Reed Jr., a 23-year-old center for the Spurs, was baptized after his October 20 NBA debut, a 116-104 loss to Oklahoma City. He posted it himself on Instagram, according to RELEVANT Magazine.
The video is titled with just two words: Jesus Saves. And the caption that goes with it starts in an unglamorous place: he got home late after his first back-to-back and wrote that he finally saw up close how demanding an 82-game season can be.
On the plane, he remembered that his church was holding baptisms that Sunday. He texted Pastor Ed and, he said, the rest was history. It wasn't a decision made that night: he had been carrying it in his heart for a long time.
«The baptism came after a loss, not a ring.»
The No. 26 pick and a lost final
The résumé: he was born in St. Louis, started his college career at Michigan, transferred to UConn after his sophomore year, and was the Big East Sixth Man of the Year as a junior. Denver picked him at No. 26 and San Antonio acquired him in a trade.
In April, UConn lost the national championship game to Michigan. That week he wrote that he had spent the whole day wrestling with God over it, that losing the biggest game of his career hurt, and that he tends toward perfectionism, even though for him only Jesus was perfect.
He also shared that he felt a nudge to speak at an Athletes in Action meeting, even though he didn't want to. He barely had time to prepare, so he let the Holy Spirit speak through him. That night, two women's basketball players were baptized. He credited God's will, not his own.
What he wanted to say publicly
About his baptism, he explained that he wanted to publicly point to his union with Christ and what it means to walk in his grace, his mercy and a new life. For that he cited Romans 6:4:
"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4, ESV).
And he left a line that sums up the whole journey: "I went from wanting nothing to do with the Lord to now wanting to live for Him" (Sígueme translation).
The court as a calling
It's worth looking at the order of events. The baptism didn't come after a championship ring or a big contract: it came after a loss, a flight home and 82 games ahead. His faith doesn't show up as a reward for performance, but as a response to a grace that doesn't depend on the scoreboard.
There's something here for those of us who play on other courts: college, a first job, the church team. We tend to think you have to arrive first and believe later. Reed tells it the other way around. He said God put him in a unique position so that others may know Christ and experience his transforming power.
The court, like any job, is a calling: the place where you serve with excellence and give thanks, not a throne. When the center stops being you, even a loss teaches something.
If you've been waiting to feel ready to take that step, this story is a little uncomfortable. This week, talk to your pastor, ask when baptisms are held at your church and why you want to do it. And an honest question for the comments: what would change in your routine if you started today, with what you have and where you are?
