Fil-Am hooper Dylan Harper among projected top picks for 2025 NBA draft
Photo from dylharpp/Instagram
With the 2024 NBA Draft in the rearview, the spotlight now shifts toward next year’s class. And leading the early buzz is another Filipino American standout, Dylan Harper.
A 6-foot-7 point guard from New Jersey, Harper is already drawing comparisons to NBA greats. Most notably, LeBron James publicly praised the rising star in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter).
“I’ve been watching him for quite a while. He calls me ‘unc,’ I call him ‘nephew.’ Special kid, special talent. He’s going to be really good in this league,” said James in a message to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
In a recent episode of SLAM, fans got a closer look at Harper, not just as a player, but as a person.
According to his mother, Maria Harper, Harper’s dedication to the game runs deep.
“He works really hard. He’ll grind early morning and late night. When he cares about something, he’ll figure out every single way he can be good at it,” she said, describing how he studies and mimics moves until he masters them.
“He’s determined and he doesn’t think like there’s anything he can’t accomplish,” she added.
Harper’s grandmother shared how meaningful the draft will be to their family: “The draft is gonna happen for him and he had expressed that he wants us to be there. It would be the happiest moment for our lives because he had achieved his dreams.”
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Harper is projected as a top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, alongside fellow elite recruit and teammate Ace Bailey.
CBS Sports even predicted last year that Dylan Harper could be selected by the San Antonio Spurs, signaling the league’s growing interest in his all-around game and high ceiling.
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The Harper legacy already runs deep in basketball. The Fil-Am guard is the son of five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, who won titles with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and later with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He is also the younger brother of Ron Harper Jr., a Rutgers alum who carved out his own path in college hoops.
With the draft scheduled for June 25–26, all eyes are now on this young Fil-Am phenom, who may soon be the next big name representing the Filipino community on basketball’s biggest stage.
