From high school stardom in New Jersey to leading Rutgers as the highest-rated recruit in program history, Dylan Harper’s transition to the NBA hardwood looked effortless. Selected No. 2 overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2025 NBA Draft, the rookie guard immediately carved out an indispensable role.
Harper earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors after averaging 11.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds across 69 regular-season games. His steady play and backcourt versatility catalyzed a massive turnaround for San Antonio, helping lead the Spurs to a 62-20 record and an electrifying run all the way to the NBA Finals.
Reaching the championship stage in year one is a rare milestone, placing Harper in select company early in his professional career.
In this exclusive conversation with ScoopB.com, Harper breaks down his inaugural Finals run, clears the air on media narratives surrounding his backcourt dynamic with De’Aaron Fox and shares the personal wisdom he receives from legendary head coach Gregg Popovich and rising coach Mitch Johnson.
Harper also opened up about his rookie campaign, growth in San Antonio and what lies ahead.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: What’s your summer been like?
Dylan Harper: A lot of rest, a lot of film and a lot of training. Just kind of getting my body prepared for what I went through last year and kind of having a year under my belt, so I kind of understand what I need to work on.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Do you remember the first time you ever dunked a basketball?
Dylan Harper: First time I dunked a basketball? Maybe 8th grade, maybe?
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: What was that feeling like?
Dylan Harper: I felt like the man! I feel like the world—I feel like the world was on my shoulders.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Okay. How can you compare that, in comparison to appearing in your first NBA Finals this year?
Dylan Harper: We lost, so I mean, that—the feeling was the complete opposite.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Okay.
Dylan Harper: I’d say if we won, it’d probably be the best feeling ever, but… I mean, we didn’t win.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Have you had time to digest that?
Dylan Harper: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I took… took a few weeks off after the season. Allowed myself to gather my thoughts. Just… assessed the whole year plus the Finals and just understand moving forward what I have to do and what I need to do for myself and for the team for us to get over that hump.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Where do you feel that you have improved this off-season and how will this coming season be better?
Dylan Harper: Well, I’d definitely say my body. I think it was a big thing going into the off-season, just kind of—not slim down in a sense, but allowing my body to kind of grow up and in a way mature. Definitely hit the weight room and conditioning, but just tightening everything up, like my shot, my handle, getting up and down the floor and just really my all-around game. And then the other aspect is just I’ve learned so much in just a short time span with the Spurs that now I’ve understood how I can apply that to my game and make all of us better.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: I know you to be a basketball mind. Have you sat down and thought about any other rookie—I think I know your answer, but any other rookie in their first year that’s gone to the Finals, put up the numbers that you did, or even just appeared and had an impact? Is there anyone that comes to mind?
Dylan Harper: I mean, not naturally. I think that… I can definitely say during the year, like, I think it’s… I think it’s natural to kind of compare yourself to other people, compare yourself to what’s going on around the league. But the great vets in the locker room, I’ve kind of learned to just go at your own pace, go at your own level, go at your own speed, because at the end of the day, you can only control what you’re doing in 24 hours and you can control what happens every day. So, I mean, I kind of not—I don’t look to compare myself, but obviously, you see it everywhere. It’s hard not to see it.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Magic Johnson went to the NBA Finals as a rookie.
Dylan Harper: Yeah.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: How often have people in your circle, or things that you’ve read online—you’ve seen it—do you think about that?
Dylan Harper: Yeah, definitely. But a little different, he won, you know, he had the Finals MVP, he had all that. But I think just in a sense, I can compare my Finals run to his run and just see the things that he did to make himself successful. And I think that’s probably what I’ve taken most from it.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: I have a serious question.
Dylan Harper: Uh-huh.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: I think the world of you and I think the world of De’Aaron Fox. The internet suggests that there’s something there. How can you dispel that myth?
Dylan Harper: I mean, I feel like what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained. I mean, Fox basically took me under his wing my whole first year and helped me and allowed me to grow in this space. And my thing is, me and him never had a problem. Like, what’s—I’ve never seen a problem playing with two to three ball-handlers on the floor. Everyone last year said that it was not going to work, this, that and the third, but I think it worked pretty fine this year. I think we exceeded expectations a lot. So, I mean… for me, all I care about is doing what’s best for the team and winning and he is a big factor and he’s a big piece in us winning now and in the future. So, I mean, for me, I have no—I don’t have anything bad to ever say about him because, at the end of the day, he’s taught me so much. And he’s taught me so much about the league and how to grind and just… take control of the game. And it’s like… it’s little things, like I’m close with him… every time I see his son, every time I see his family, like, we’re all super close. So it’s like me and him have a great relationship where it’s like, that’s kind of my—I joke with him all the time, it’s kind of my uncle. He kind of like—he just teaches me things that I don’t think anyone else that hasn’t been in his position could teach me.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: The Spurs have you, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle. When I think of three guards, like back in the ’80s, I think of the Detroit Pistons with Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas and Vinnie Johnson—that’s before your time.
Dylan Harper: Yeah.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: But are there any teams that you’ve watched growing up where you’ve seen three dominant guards dominate like that?
Dylan Harper: I mean, not really. I think what’s so special is that we’re three dominant guards, but we both—we all play both sides of the ball. And I feel like there’s 6’3″, 6′ 5″ and 6 ‘6″. Me and Steph can guard 1 through 3, 1 through 4. So, I mean, I feel like there hasn’t been a team like us assembled where we all—like, we all play both sides of the ball and we’re unselfish all the time.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Your head coach Mitch Johnson and his relationship with you guys mirrors the relationship that your brother has with Mazzulla in Boston. The young coach, relatable, knows the game. I feel like the world kind of was introduced to who Mitch Johnson was, but if you’re a basketball lifer, you know who he is.How inspirational and how—how much does he fit with you guys?
Dylan Harper: He fits perfectly. I feel like he’s a player’s coach. He obviously played, played in college, played pro. He understands—he understands what goes through a player’s head, and I think that’s very important for any coach because he’s not naive to the days where maybe we all don’t want to be there, but we got to get better. He’s not naive to all the little things that go on in people’s lives off the court and on the court. So, I mean, he’s been great just allowing us to grow, but by also teaching us the game because he’s been—he’s a great coach. He’s been around Coach Pop forever. He kind of has that background where like, he has that pedigree of where you have to respect him in a sense. So, I mean, him and the rest of the staff, I think they’ve—I think they’ve put up a great kind of structure for us, and they just allowed us to grow. And he’s growing right with us.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: You mentioned Pop. During the playoffs and throughout the course of last season, how instrumental has Coach Pop been to your development?
Dylan Harper: I mean, just to have someone of that… that pedestal, that’s seen everyone, been with everyone… the things he’ll say to me or the things he’ll appreciate in me, of just being me, go out there, play your game, because at the end of the day, like… he knows who I am. He might know who I am better than I know who I am, in a sense of he… like in times where I might be a little passive or I might not be as aggressive, like… he will calmly send me texts like, “No, like this is not how you’re going to play. You’re going to play like how we know you can play.” And I feel like just having that push from a legend like that is unbelievable.
As Dylan Harper gears up for his sophomore campaign, his focus remains rooted in steady progression, physical maturity and building upon San Antonio’s rising culture. Armed with high-level playoff experience and guided by a hall-of-fame ecosystem, the young guard is positioned to take another significant leap forward.
