[Howenstine] Dylan Harper is the first rookie to score double-figures in the opening quarter of a Finals game in the last 25 years - in his first-ever Finals game.
https://imgur.com/a/HiDSSRa
Jordan Howenstine works for Spurs PR and shared this on social media
Bro has literal finals DNA tbf
Will he surpass his father’s number of rings? That’s a tough act to follow lol
Saying not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4 didn’t go al that well for the Heat. Lets wait until he wins one.
Rutgers went 15-17 with this guy btw.
Harper, Ace Bailey and a whole lot of dogshit
The 3rd best and down players on that team wouldn’t have seen minutes on the Michigan team that just won a title
99.9% of college players wouldnt have seen minutes on the Michigan team. Not sure what you’re saying here.
The fact that the 3rd best player on that Rutgers team might barely be a top 10 player on Michigan is still a damning statement
…it’s not damning. You’re comparing Michigan to Rutgers. The Wizards 3rd best player wouldn’t see minutes on the Thunder either. There’s a reason Rutgers hasn’t had any legit prospects for like 50 years before Harper and Bailey.
Random Wizards slander but i’m pretty sure whoever our third best player is would see minutes on the Thunder, which would either be Trae, AD or Sarr.
Okay well maybe not Trae but the other two would, even Kyshawn, Bilal and maybe Riley would see minutes.
But your point still stands
Trae is your best player lol, AD sure, but I doubt he’ll play a single game for the wizards based on everything he’s done till now. Sarr isn’t close to those 2 yet
AD will play at least one game, but both AD and Sarr are far more impactful on both ends of the court compared to Trae, Trae is important for the offensive flow, he’s not a better player than AD or Sarr.
It’s not.
Throw in Ace Bailey as well
His first few nba games he looked all over the place too, but at least with flashes. Kind of shocking how good he’s gotten since then. And physically he’s an absolute beast, crazy for how young he is.
Says more about Rutgers than anything else.
Yeah, and that Kendrick DNA player intro edit was 🔥
Literally just now occured to me who his dad is
And then disappeared
Livin’ up to the hype
The fact that this guy looks this good while being a projected #2 option is insane. Spurs lotto luck can’t be understated
Honestly I think he can be a number 1 guy. Could be a Kobe and Shaq situation. He’s got solid vision, good athleticism, great finishing skills and incredible feel.
Seems like it’s setting up to be Kobe and Shaq, except if Shaq wasn’t lazy, knew how to shoot threes, and was even larger, and if Kobe wasn’t an asshole.
in other words, scary shit
seems like it’s setting up to be magic and kareem actually, except if magic could shoot 3s like curry and kareem could dribble like kyrie
And they started their careers at the same time almost
So like the other comment said:
Wemby is taller, not larger haha
Bigger thing, he can hit free throws.
Damn right. He may have been DOGSHIT today but he was almost flawless from the free throws and that can be huge for him if he’s having a terrible shooting night (like today)
Wemby would end up like embiid if he tried to get as big as shaq
I don’t know about larger lol. I don’t think Wemby could stop Shaq, he’d block him here and there of course but he’d explode if Shaq was physical with him
We’re all doomed
And Rutgers went under .500 with him and the #5 pick lol.
I can’t wait to see this team in the coming years
And right now too
Fucking hell Spurs hit almost every fucking time
I mean it’s not like Harper was some hidden gem, he was the consensus #2 prospect and they had the second pick.
Also the spurs have plenty of recent lottery picks that were complete duds
They really haven’t had any recent duds besides Josh Primo
Doesn’t Sochan count as a dud?
I guess yeah. He wasn’t that bad in his first few years though, just a poor fit. He’s still super young, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds a role elsewhere.
Sochan is almost single-handedly beating the Spurs rn so no
Wow totally forgot about Primo already
He came and went
Going from Duncan and Parker to Wemby and Harper
And castle.
I could’ve drafted Harper with the second pick. If he was drafted to a TERRIBLE organization such as Washington or Brooklyn he would’ve been competing with Cooper and Kon for ROTY
That was luck not a truly amazing move
Same with the wemby pick
Spurs getting a lot of credit for good luck
They get credit for the castle pick but they’re annoyingly lucky
Got gifted the first pick the one year admiral went down
Got gifted Wemby
Then Wemby had blood clots which allowed them to become a lotto pick and they got lucky as fuck with the second pick
Compare that to Charlotte who has had the #2 pick four times but it’s been in the Shaq/Dwight/AD/Wemby drafts
Fuckers got lucky against us back in the day when David Stern suspended Amare and Diaw for stepping onto the court after Horry hip checked Nash.
Oh and Tim Donaghy admittedly tipping things in their favor in the playoffs.
It’s certainly a pattern.
Literally any bumbling idiot would have taken him at 2nd
‘Hit’
I’m so confused as to what you’re trying to get at with this comment lol
Castle was the only real hit, Wemby & Harper were dropped in their lap.
Devin Vassell was a hit and Carter Bryant looks really good too
I think it’s more that every time they’ve picked #1 there has been a generational big who is the consensus #1. Obviously you still have to develop the player though.
I’m assuming that he’s implying he was a slam dunk prospect, and it’s not some scouting genius that discovered him.
Probably implying Harper was the “obvious” pick at 2 (or something to do with rigged lotteries), when that’s not the case at all
Harper was consensus number 2
Primo was the biggest miss that I can think of and that was quite a few years ago
Yeah that one really.. exposed us
That’s the big miss I was leaving out
Well They had the 1-4-2 picks 1 was obvious 2 pretty obvious and Castle fell to them
Well run org
Dude is so good. And he’s going to let the Spurs get out of the Fox contract in a couple of seasons
Trade Fox sign LeBron have a funny season
Just imagine the WCF next year with Wemby and LeBron vs the Thunder. Game threads would become even more toxic lmao
Kind of pointless mentioning the first ever finals considering that no rookie is a finals that isn’t their first.
First ever finals game specifically. With your interpretation he could have play games 1-6 and then do this in game 7. Thats why its first game mentioned ,not first series.
Fair, I hadn’t considered that so it makes sense to include it.
In your defense it’s still a forced metric for clicks
A literal rookie dude lmao
Right. I thought I was missing something with that part. First rookie in their first finals. Well what’s the other option?
Typical NBA stat cherry picking lmao
Norm MacDonald: are you sure?
the anti-Jarrett Allen, where the lights were not as bright as expected
Why you say fuck me for?
He trying to get fmvp
That Harper dna activating like Assassin’s Creed
Pop had to pull out the animus
When the spurs like fourth best player is better than the kings best player, sigh
Honestly Harper might be our second best player
Ya I really didn’t know where to put him tbh, the depth is insane
Castle is insane. 3rd I think.
Based on recency, I have Harper as the number 2 over castle.
Castle is great, but Harper is a monster. Something about the spurs org man.
Dude has a chance to surpass Tatum in playoff games/minutes if team stays healthy.
Good thing they benched him at end in favor for more experienced Fox. Good thing for the Knicks
Imagine having this man and castle locked up as your future starting back court for the next 10 years
Spurs are what people thought Okc was gonna be, minus the nonchalant attitude.
I don’t like the Spurs because I’m a hater, but I really like Harper. At this point, it’s not that much of a hot take to assume he’s going to eventually be this team’s second best player.
I feel like he already is. Such a steadying force for them off the bench.
Plays like a veteran already
UNREAL
What a draft class this was
and they fuckin benched him at the end
How come Rutgers couldn’t make the NCAA tourney ? I’m pretty sure a freshman LeBron and any 4 NCAA level players would make the NCAA Rutgers had Dylan and Ace Bailey
The fact that the NBA has changed the lottery rules so the luck that the Spurs got can never happen for another team is such bullshit. The competitive integrity of the league is ruined when the NBA can just change rules like that. Not to mention that teams have traded first round picks based on incorrect assumptions of how those picks would go. But the NBA allowing the Spurs to get the biggest run of luck in lottery history and then pulling the ladder up behind them is incredible horseshit
Tell your fave teams not to tank so blatantly
There’s a reason why anti-tanking rules are implemented, and that’s because those sorry ass managed teams are ruining the product
Spurs tanked blatantly for years and were handsomely rewarded
wemby got bloodclots what were they supposed to do
Lights not bright at all for him. Crazy how young he is.
The Q1 threshold is what makes this wild — he didn’t ease in, he dropped double figures in the opening quarter of his first ever Finals game. That’s not a fluke appearance, that’s a statement.
That dont mean diddly
So many good rookies this season. Harper is gonna be one of the best players in the coming years.
This kid is fuckin’ serious man, damn.
Yeah, how’d that work out for him in the end…
Getting benched for some reason
And then they benched him lmfao
He’s ready for the moment
Genuinely unfair that Wemby gets a future All-NBA player to develop with.
Best of his class no question
more talented than wemby
i mean obviously if hes a rookie in the finals its his first finals game….dont think we needed that little bit at the end lol
How would a finals not be a rookie’s first finals?
Not every rookie makes the finals
Then they wouldn’t be a rookie. The second part is dumb and useless.
Yes the fact that he is a rookie implies this is his first finals game
he’s a monster, looks like a 10 year vet out there and he’s 20
You bastards are gonna spend so much time complaining about the Spurs in 2032
and plays like zero minutes in the 4th GG spurs. gotta play fox and make wemby chuck 30 footers
Can’t believe they pulled him at the end of the game. He was their second best player and they sit him for Vassel.
Aaaand they benched him down the stretch
They should have left him in the 4th to finish the game.
Isnt the last bit redundant? If you’re a rookie then it’ll be your first ever Finals game by definition?
You could do it in say game 3 of the finals. So you’d have 2 games of “warm up” first.
Ah im dumb, i resd the title too fast and thought it was opening game of the finals not opening quarter
Was weirdly worded so easy to trip over it :)
He needs to start. Have Fox off the bench.
That last line seems a little redundant
Stat inflation
He’s got star potential
“in his first-ever Finals game.” Is redundant for a stat about rookies in their opening games in the finals lmao
Why are they letting Fox build a starter house? Just dribble and distribute the ball. Everyone knows you can’t score anymore.
And then left the court a loser
Fox is better though, so Harper definitely needs to be benched in deference
Random ass stat
Hmm, a bit redundant on title? Rookie = first-ever Finals game
And took a L
This isn’t as big a flex as you think it is. Name all the rookies who were getting regular rotation minutes on any of those Finals team. Maybe like 1 or 2 guys lol.
The reason being they are rookies who are not given freedom to do their thing in a Finals game. Heck, most rookies in a Finals team won’t even sniff the court, much less have a big impact on the game.
Exactly so why boast about being the first to do something when you are literally the only one eligible. I can filter down any data set to match any narrative I want. I bet Wemby was the first player in NBA history over 7’4” to shoot 6-21 FG and get 3 blocks in their Finals debut. See my point?
I mean, you’re just being pedantic at this point. The exact reason why it is something awesome is precisely because he is the first one to do it so far.
Then literally anyone can have a “first-to-do” something accolade. What are we even doing here lol
The crux of the stat is decent, the bit at the end is silly given that rookies will play at most one NBA Finals series while they are a rookie.