Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

Denver fans don’t like Tamar Bates’s favorite football team, but his game might quickly win them over.

“I’ve been with the Chiefs since Matt Cassel, you know what I’m saying?” Bates unabashedly revealed after his first Summer League practice with the Nuggets. “Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, Tamba Hali, I could go on all day.”

Don’t give up on the Kansas City, Kan. native and former Missouri Tiger just yet. Bates, who signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets after going undrafted last month, can start to win back Nuggets fans as soon as Denver’s Summer League run starts Thursday in Las Vegas.

“I would describe myself as a 3-and-D guy that has the skillset to score at all three levels. Just somebody that can play on the ball, off the ball and just somebody that plays really hard,” Bates said. “I try to pride myself on my communication and energy that I bring. Whatever it takes to win and whatever my job is depending on the night, no matter what team I playing for, whether it be the Gold or the Nuggets, I’m going to do whatever coach asks me to do.”

It didn’t take long for Bates to make an impression on his new teammates.

“Really good player. He’s fiery, good defender. He’s done a really good job these first two days and even last week. He was here early. I like his game,” Nuggets forward Hunter Tyson said.

“He’s got a lot of energy. He talks.”

Basketball has taken Bates to a lot of places. After starting his high school career at Kansas City’s Piper High School, Bates transferred to Florida’s IMG Academy where he finished his high school career as a top-25 prospect, according to ESPN. Before the transfer, Bates and Spencer Jones, another Nuggets two-way player, were on a collision course to play in the Kansas Class 4A state tournament.

“They lost when they were supposed to play us in the state tournament, but that’s neither here nor there,” Bates said.

Nuggets guard Christian Braun gives the Nuggets a third player from the Kansas side of the city. Braun played at Blue Valley Northwest.

“I’ve been knowing those guys and been in the gym with them since my freshman year, eighth grade,” Bates said. “Definitely good to have familiar faces in the locker room.”

Bates started college at Indiana before transferring to Missouri for his final two seasons. He shot better than 37% from 3 in each of his final three college seasons and capped his collegiate career by posting 13.3 points, 2.6 rebound and 1.3 steals while shooting 50.8% from the field and 39.7% from 3.

“Tamar is a really high IQ guy,” Summer League coach Andrew Munson said.

“Really positive, high energy dude. Man, he can really shoot it, which is a pretty good skill to have when you’re playing basketball.”

Bates has hardly stopped since his college career ended. After the Tigers lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Bates played in a college All-Star Game, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, the G League Elite Camp and NBA combine before traveling to 13 different pre-draft workouts.

“It was more like mentally taxing than physical just because of the flights and all the travel and everything, but I did it,” Bates said.

That was a pretty good introduction for NBA life, especially for a player who’s going to split his time between Denver and Grand Rapids, Mich., the home of the Nuggets’ G League affiliate. If the rookie needs more help adjusting, another member of the Kansas City contingent is ready to pay the help forward.

“CB really helped me kind of understand how to stand out to Malone in this limited role and stuff like that,” Jones said of Braun before offering his advice to Bates. “For him, I would just say honestly, one, ask questions and be direct. That’s what I love about this coaching staff. When I ask a question like ‘Hey, what’s my role? What do you envision for me?’ They’re simple, direct.”

It hasn’t taken him long to win over people within the Nuggets organization. Winning over the other Denver diehards might take a little more time.

“I’m not no fake Chiefs fan,” Bates said.

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“I’m in Broncos country, but when the Chiefs come to town, y’all know what colors I’m going to have on.”

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What I’m Thinking

There aren’t many like Andrew Munson anymore.

The Nuggets assistant who will serve as the Summer League coach for a second straight year isn’t the son of a former NBA coach like Michael Malone or David Adelman, though he did play for his father up until high school.

“He was a big influence, obviously, taking me to all the high school games,” Munson said, later adding he grew up watching Kirk Hinrich’s prep career up close.

Munson doesn’t have a decorated playing career after his days at Iowa’s Sioux City East High School where he played a couple seasons of varsity basketball for the Black Raiders, according to MaxPreps rosters, under Ras and Jeff Vanderloo.

“I talk to those guys all the time,” Munson said. “The amount of fundamental things I learned going to their basketball camps when I was like a second grader that we still use in practice every day in the NBA. That’s always a fun conversation.”

That was the end of his playing career, but he stayed involved by becoming a student manager at University of Iowa under Fran McCaffrey. That was enough to get his foot in the NBA door, and he named Michael Malone, Wes Unseld Jr., Micah Nori and Jordi Fernandez as other coaches who’ve helped him get to this point.

“The list is very long, but that’s a few of them,” Munson said.

Munson’s NBA coaching career started in inglorious fashion as a video intern, but he’s stuck with the franchise for nearly a decade. That’s the road less traveled in the NBA these days.

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What They’re Saying

One of Munson’s failures in the last week was getting Julian Strawther to join the Summer League squad, though Strawther was in the gym working with the rest of the crew headed to Vegas on Saturday.

“I was asking if he wanted to bring his 30 points a game to Vegas,” Munson joked.

“Just like last summer, he’s in here every single day. He works out more than anybody on our roster. He’s here all the time, getting his work in.”

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What I’m Following

– Bruce Brown is back in Denver. While his return to the Nuggets hasn’t been formally announced, Brown posted a photo from the Nuggets’ practice gym to his Instagram account Sunday night.

– Former Nugget Vlatko Cancar was named to Slovenia’s EuroBasket roster, and potential future Nugget Jonas Valanciunas is on Lithuania’s roster.

– It’s been a typical Nikola Jokic summer. There’s been rafting trips and trips to the racetrack. Jokic recently celebrated one of his horses winning a race in a clip that was recently shared online. It’s to be determined if Jokic will represent Serbia at EuroBasket. The three-time Most Valuable Player is also headed to China for a promotional tour with 361 Degrees, the brand that recently released his signature shoe.

– Speaking of foreign travel, DeAndre Jordan recently traveled to Japan to further immerse himself in the culture. Jordan, who’s studying Japanese, shared plenty of photos from his trip on Instagram.