“We had a lot of conversations throughout high school whether that was trying to play together in college or playing together at some point,” Carter Bryant said.
The San Antonio Spurs had two picks in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft and used them to select Rutgers’ Dylan Harper at No. 2 and Arizona’s Carter Bryant at No. 14.
While Harper was pretty much a shoo-in since the Draft Lottery, Bryant was more surprising, as many mock drafters and twitter users thought they’d go for center depth.
But when Dylan Harper found out Bryant would be joining him in San Antonio, he was ecstatic.
“That’s been my guy since like freshman, sophomore year,” Harper said. “Everywhere we’ve been, we’ve connected. I’m happy and glad we got him.”
Turns out, Harper and Bryant have history long before the Alamo City.
“Dylan and I actually met playing an AAU tournament,” Bryant said. “We [Bryant’s AAU team] played the New York Rens [Harper’s AAU team}. And I’ll never forget, he was killing us. I was the biggest dude on our team, so coach had me guarding the 5 [center]. Man, I was like, ‘Coach, I promise you I can stop him.’ And I remember he came over the bench, he was like, ‘I promise you, you can’t stop me.’ So it’s a full-circle moment for us to be on the same team now. I love that dude, he’s a great dude. Great family. His father [Ron Harper] has always been great to me.”
According to Bryant, their potential team-up has been highly anticipated since high school.
“It’s been a long time coming. We had a lot of conversations throughout high school whether that was (about) trying to play together in college or playing together at some point,” Bryant said. “So for him to be my draft buddy and being able to both go into the lottery and be able to represent San Antonio is dope.”
“It’s definitely special,” Harper said. “Just because I think we both come from a great family, at the beginning both me and him both went to high tier high schools, we just kind of grinding out from where we’re from. Our stories are pretty similar.”
With the Spurs having back-to-back Rookies of the Years with Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, it’s definitely possible the trophy remains in San Antonio this year.
It’s just the question of whether it’ll be in Harper’s or Bryant’s trophy rooms.
“I mean, one of us is gonna get it,” Bryant said. “So whether it’s one or two or whoever gets it, doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to win basketball games at a high level.”
That built-in chemistry should mean that the Spurs are getting a dynamic duo to add to an already promising young roster.