By Mike Finger, Columnist | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-19 14:01:54
2025年12月18日星期四，在圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔（5号）、前锋朱利安·尚帕尼（30号）与后卫迪伦·哈珀（2号）正在庆祝哈珀命中一球。该场比赛，圣安东尼奥以119-94击败华盛顿。
亚特兰大电 – 紧张的情绪逐渐占据了他的上风。夜色越深，场面越关键，这位高大强壮的后卫就越发坐立不安。
这并非罗恩·哈珀 (Ron Harper) 首次体验冠军级别的压力。作为一名拥有15年NBA经验的老将，他曾随公牛队和湖人队共赢得五次总冠军，是那些联盟巨星身边坚韧而稳健的得力助手。
但周二晚在拉斯维加斯，他已无法掌控局面。在T-Mobile球馆举行的NBA杯决胜局中，他起初坐在靠近场地角落的一个座位上，随后换到第二个，接着又换到第三个。这是因为焦躁不安？还是出于迷信？亦或是座位安排出了差错？
无论原因为何，有一点显而易见：哈珀19岁的儿子，迪伦，此刻才是那个冷静沉着的人。
“就像他总告诫我的那样，一个赛季有82场比赛，”这位马刺新秀说道，“总会有起起伏伏。”
正如迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 可以向他父亲指出的那样，一个赛季有时会有83场比赛。而且，即便你是场上最年轻的球员，高光时刻的到来，也可能比人们预想的要早得多。
在那场额外的比赛——一场鏖战后惜败于尼克斯的季中锦标赛决赛中，哈珀领衔马刺全队得分。周四晚上在圣安东尼奥，他又一次做到了，在以119-94大胜奇才的比赛中砍下24分。
马刺队即将在周五晚于亚特兰大对阵老鹰队，随着他们日益接近终结长达六年的季后赛荒，他们将从一个许多年轻球队和年轻球员都难以获得的机会中受益。
职业生涯才刚开始两个月，哈珀已经体验过在全联盟的注视下，投身于赢或回家的淘汰赛是什么感觉。几个月后，这可能会在季后赛中带来巨大的回报。
“能拥有那种感觉、那种沉稳，以及诸如此类的东西，是很棒的，”马刺中锋、前凯尔特人队NBA总冠军成员卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 说道，“但随后，你会随着经验的积累而变得越来越好。”
作为去年六月选秀的榜眼秀，哈珀的履历上并没有太多高风险比赛的记录。与杜克大学的状元秀库珀·弗拉格 (Cooper Flagg) 不同，他没有打过全国冠军赛。与探花秀、来自贝勒大学的V.J. 埃奇库姆 (V.J. Edgecombe) 以及后续五位新秀中的四位都不同，哈珀甚至从未参加过NCAA锦标赛。
在罗格斯大学，哈珀和队友埃斯·贝利 (Ace Bailey) 的个人新生赛季表现亮眼，但猩红骑士队战绩仅为15胜17负。因此，当他在马刺开启NBA生涯时，人们有理由发问：哈珀懂得如何赢球吗？如果不懂，他需要多久才能学会？
他没用多长时间就给出了答案。在他的第二场常规赛中，当维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 陷入犯规困扰时，哈珀在球队客场加时战胜新奥尔良的关键阶段扛起了球队。第三场比赛，他在最后时刻于攻防两端包办了所有关键回合，帮助球队击败布鲁克林。
而在十一月因小腿拉伤缺席三周多之后呢？哈珀展现出一种天赋，擅长巧妙的欧洲步突破和左手终结，这不禁让人想起一位传奇的马刺前辈。他在客场战胜丹佛以及在洛杉矶击败湖人队的两场季中锦标赛中扮演了关键角色。
没人说他的成就已接近马努·吉诺比利 (Manu Ginobili) 的高度。但他的技术储备已然显现，而且别忘了这一点：当吉诺比利还是个新秀，常常因为打法过于天马行空而被格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 痛斥时，他已经25岁了。哈珀比那时的他年轻了近六岁，而他的主教练也努力不忽视这一点。
“他犯过一些显而易见的错误，有时连我自己都难免对此反应过度，”米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道。
同样，人们也很难不对哈珀的精彩表现反应过度，这些表现强化了一个观念：他已经是马刺核心阵容不可或缺的一部分，这个核心还包括文班亚马、德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。
哈珀随心所欲攻击篮筐的能力，是他最出色的场上特质。但他也展现出成为顶级防守者的潜力，并且最近更是点燃了人们的希望——他或许能提供阵容中其他人所欠缺的东西：三分投射能力。
本赛季至今，他的三分命中率仅为30.2%。但在对阵尼克斯和奇才的比赛中，哈珀合计三分球15投8中。这个命中率或许难以持续，但仅仅是让防守方不敢掉以轻心，就可能为他自己的进攻、乃至马刺队的战术体系解锁关键环节。
与此同时，马刺阵中所有从未打过季后赛的年轻球员，都已从这次十二月的“预演”中获益匪浅。
“这让我们对自己有了很多了解，”哈珀说。
至于场边观战的那些经验丰富的老将们呢？他们同样也上了一课。
小哈珀本周证明了，他能处理好自己的紧张情绪。
等到季后赛真正来临时，他的父亲或许也能做到同样的事了。
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) drives into the lane on Washington Wizards forward Marvin Bagley III (35) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. San Antonio beat Washington 119-94.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) reacts after making a 3-point basket against the New York Knicks during the second half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) shoots against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) sets to play the ball in the first half of an NBA Cup semifinals basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill)
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：How Dylan Harper is getting a head start on playoff education
How Dylan Harper is getting a head start on playoff education
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5), forward Julian Champagnie (30) and guard Dylan Harper (2) celebrate a basket by Harper during the second half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. San Antonio beat Washington 119-94.
ATLANTA – Nerves were getting the best of him. The longer the night went on, and the bigger the moment became, the more the big, strong guard fidgeted.
This wasn’t Ron Harper’s first exposure to championship pressure. As a 15-year NBA veteran, he won five titles combined with the Bulls and Lakers, serving as a tough and steady sidekick to some of the sport’s biggest stars.
But Tuesday night in Las Vegas, he wasn’t in control anymore. He began the deciding game of the NBA Cup in one seat near the corner of the court in T-Mobile Arena, then shifted to a second chair, and then a third. Was it restlessness? Superstition? A mix-up in the assigned seating?
Whatever the cause, one thing was clear: Harper’s 19-year-old son, Dylan, was the calm, cool one now.
“Like he always tells me, there’s 82 games in the season,” the Spurs rookie said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs.”
As Dylan Harper can point out to his dad, sometimes there are 83 games in a season. And even when you’re the youngest guy on the floor, the ups can come sooner than people think.
Harper led the Spurs in scoring in that extra game on the schedule, a hard-fought Cup loss to the Knicks. Thursday night in San Antonio, he did it again with 24 points in a 119-94 romp over the Wizards.
And as the Spurs, who were set to play the Hawks on Friday night in Atlanta, get closer to ending a six-year playoff drought, they stand to benefit from an opportunity not many young teams and young players get.
Just two months into his pro career, Harper already knows what it’s like to play on a stage with win-or-go-home stakes as the whole league watches. In a few months, that could pay significant postseason dividends.
“It’s great to have that feel, and that poise, and stuff like that,” Spurs center Luke Kornet, a former NBA title winner with the Celtics, said. “But then you just get better and better with experience.”
As the No. 2 overall selection in last June’s draft, Harper didn’t have much of a high-stakes track record on his résumé. Unlike top pick Cooper Flagg of Duke, he hadn’t played in a national championship game. Unlike No. 3 pick V.J. Edgecombe of Baylor and four of the next five selections, Harper hadn’t played in the NCAA tournament at all.
At Rutgers, Harper and teammate Ace Bailey posted impressive individual freshman seasons, but the Scarlet Knights went just 15-17. So as he began his NBA career with the Spurs, it seemed fair to ask: Did Harper know how to win? And if he didn’t, how long would it take him to learn?
It didn’t take him long to provide an answer. During his second regular-season game, Harper carried the Spurs during a key stretch with Victor Wembanyama in foul trouble in an overtime victory at New Orleans. In his third game, he made all the biggest plays in the closing minutes at both ends of the court to beat Brooklyn.
And after he missed more than three weeks in November with a calf strain? Showing a knack for crafty Eurostep drives and lefty finishes reminiscent of a legendary former Spur, Harper played a key role in Cup victories at Denver and against the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Nobody is saying he’s accomplished anything close to what Manu Ginobili did. But the skillset is there, and it helps to remember this: When Ginobili was a rookie, regularly getting berated by Gregg Popovich for playing too fast and loose, he already was 25. Harper is almost six years younger, and his head coach tries not to lose sight of that.
“He’s had a couple of loud mistakes, which at times even I am a victim of overreacting to,” Mitch Johnson said.
It can be just as hard not to overreact to Harper’s highlights, which reinforce the idea that he’s already an integral part of a Spurs core also featuring Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
Harper’s ability to get to the rim at will is his best on-court attribute. But he’s also shown promise as a top-notch defender, and lately has stoked hope that he might be able to provide something the rest of the lineup needs: 3-point shooting.
For the season, he’s made only 30.2% of his shots from behind the arc. But against the Knicks and Wizards, Harper went a combined 8-for-15 on 3-point attempts. That rate probably won’t continue, but just keeping defenses honest could unlock key pieces of his offense, and of the Spurs’ game plan.
Meanwhile, all the Spurs’ youngsters who’ve never played in the postseason have benefited from a December trial run.
“It teaches us a lot about ourselves,” Harper said.
As for the seasoned old pros sitting courtside? That goes for them, too.
The younger Harper proved this week he could handle his own nerves.
By the time the playoffs roll around, his dad might be able to say the same.
By Mike Finger, Columnist, via San Antonio Express-News