Dylan Harper, the son of former NBA player Ron Harper, was selected as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 Draft and is considered one of the best talents of this draft class, following Cooper Flagg. But no matter how good the young talent is, the professional level is always a whole different test than the college level or other lower levels these talents have known.
Before he was selected by the Spurs, Harper worked out with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks' superstar. He narrated the story of his experience to Carmelo Anthony on his most recent podcast episode.
"I mean, working out with him was like, after that workout, it kind of like switched my brain, me and Ace's brain. We talked about it after, like, we're doing ball handling, start the workout, you can see like how intentional he is, like he might not be going the fastest, but like he's going the hardest in the gym. He is in a full-out sweat, we 5 minutes in doing the warm-up so just how he really likes pays attention to detail, stuff like that."
"Like we were doing this fadeaway drill, you got to fade away to the baseline, and he's like critiquing everything. Because like he's like ‘you can't be perfect but you could get close to perfect’ so I mean just trying to strive for things like that. So just to see his mindset and how he just approached the workout was probably the best part about it.”
He further spoke about how obsessed Giannis was with perfection. So much that he would not leave a spot until he made ten out of ten shots from there.
“We were at a spot for like 20 minutes, I kid you not. Like we're doing like nine spots, like three spots on the wing, we all have to make like 10. Yeah, but like he's not going to leave a spot till he’s perfect.”
Harper hilariously concluded, “I was trying to play 1 on 1 with him” when Carmelo Anthony spoke about the difference in workout approaches among players.
Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game during his NCAA career with Rutgers. He has been compared to several NBA players before entering the league, like James Harden and Jalen Brunson. With Chris Paul's imminent exit, Harper will fit perfectly alongside De'Aaron Fox to run the backcourt with Stephen Castle, Jeremy Sochan, and Victor Wembanyama as the remaining starters of the team.
Harpers' first NBA contract ($56.1 million over four years) is valued higher than his father's entire NBA career earnings ($30 million). His father had the perfect reaction to this news. Harper will likely play his first game as a Spurs player in the Summer League, but he seems to have already gotten a glimpse of his 'welcome to the NBA' moment after the intense workout with Giannis.
Do you think Harper is a long-term solution for the Spurs? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
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