Dylan Harper reacts after being selected second by the San Antonio Spurs In the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Dylan Harper, the second overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, joins a small but growing list of players in the NBA with Filipino roots.
Harper was drafted second by San Antonio after No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, who went to the Dallas Mavericks. He bolsters an already promising Spurs core led by Victor Wembanyama.
Dylan Harper is selected 2nd overall by the @spurs in the 2025 #NBADraft presented by State Farm!
Watch on ABC & ESPN. pic.twitter.com/myiSSVj3PT
— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025
READ: 2025 NBA Draft: San Antonio Spurs add Dylan Harper at No. 2
Harper will be another active NBA player who has ties to the Philippines, joining his older brother, Ron Harper Jr of the Houston Rockets, Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz and Jalen Green, who was recently traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Jared McCain has also said that he’s part Filipino.
🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭
— Jordan Clarkson (@JordanClarksons) June 26, 2025
Clarkson, who represented the Philippines in the 2024 Fiba World Cup in Manila, was among those who proudly hyped up Harper’s Filipino roots.
Dylan is the son of former NBA player Ron Harper, a five-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
His mother, Maria—who turned heads for her stunning look on Draft night—is of Filipino descent. She hails from Bataan and moved to the United States with her family when she was seven.
“His flat-out love for the game, his determination, his humility and his hard work day in and day out,” said Maria of her son’s latest accomplishment.
Harper tied Green as the highest-drafted player with ties to the Philippines. Green was selected second overall by the Rockets in the 2021 NBA Draft.
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