After weeks of speculation, the San Antonio Spurs chose Dylan Harper for their second overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Dylan Harper’s talent was never in doubt as the Rutgers star even praised him from Stephen Curry before the 2025 NBA Draft.
But that was what the San Antonio Spurs wanted to do with their second overall pick. The Spurs were rumoured to be one of their favorites to land Kevin Durant before being drafted by the Houston Rockets.
Additionally, Spurs also felt that the Phoenix Suns job prices were too high for KD. As a result, the Spurs stuck to their plans to draft Harper.
In his only year with Rutgers, Harper wore a #2 jersey for his college basketball program. Currently, the 19-year-old will wear the same number as the Spurs.
There’s only one problem. The #2 jersey was last worn by NBA legend Kawi Leonard when he was a member of the Spurs.
This led fans to call out Dylan, saying, “D Harp Lowkey Lame took it in the first place.”
Given that the Spurs have made Harper able to wear this number, that means the organization is on the decision.
With that in mind, Dylan’s father, Ron Harper, denounced NBA fans with a two-word response on X.
“Shut up,” Ron wrote.
The 5x NBA champions are not wrong in protecting their son, but Spurs fans are surprised by the decision. After all, they were hoping to see Leonard’s #2 jersey hanging from the rafters.
The decision to hand over the Kowhi number to Dylan was quite controversial, and even NBA reporter Michelle Beadle ended up doing the same.
She noted that the decision “doesn’t bother him” as time has passed since Leonard left the Spurs.
“Kawi doesn’t bother us. We don’t care. Respect has been a bit ruined. Time has passed,” Beadle writes to X.
She added:
For context, the reason why Leonard left the Spurs was due to his camp’s belief that the organization mismanages his injuries.
Despite being a relatively modest person, Kauhi couldn’t tolerate it. However, as Beadle stated, it has been seven years since Leonard’s feud with the Spurs, and it appears that both sides are moving.