San Antonio Spurs Rookie Is Mentored By Two-Time NBA MVP originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Dylan Harper has more than his fair share of mentors.
After being drafted second overall by the San Antonio Spurs, he was amazed by how casually NBA legends like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, David Robinson, and Gregg Popovich made themselves accessible to him.
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However, he is not limiting himself to internal praise and mentorship. He and former Rutgers teammate Ace Bailey recently appeared in an ad for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s newest signature shoe.
It’s the latest installment of Harper and Bailey’s friendship with the Greek Freak. Before either of them played a minute of college ball, the two-time MVP took them under his wing during a private training session, offering them tips on how to defend bigger players and how to create for themselves offensively.
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“After that workout, it switched and Ace’s brain,” Harper reflected in an interview with Carmelo Anthony. “He really pays attention to detail, stuff like that. We were doing this fade-away drill. You gotta fade away to the baseline. He’s like critiquing everything. He’s like, ‘You can’t be perfect, but you get close to perfect.’ So, I mean, just trying to strive for things like that.”
Harper and Giannis play different positions, but if he can have half of the individual success of Antetokounmpo, it’s safe to say that the San Antonio Spurs won the 2025 NBA Draft.
Follow Jonah Kubicek on Substack or Twitter for more NBA and WNBA articles and analysis.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.