Dylan Harper brightens Thanksgiving with turkey giveaway

As part of the Spurs’ efforts to celebrate the holidays, Harper stopped by the Holy Redeemer Parish Center on Friday for the organization’s season of giving where he handed out around 200 turkeys for Thanksgiving, as per Carolina Teague of SPURFECT Blog.

Harper’s gesture will likely earn him an assist from the Spurs fanbase as they await his return to the court. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Harper was an early frontrunner for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award before his injury. Since he’s been sidelined, the Spurs have gotten De’Aaron Fox back in the lineup, but have also seen Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle sidelined due to injury in recent days.

Prior to the calf injury, Harper had appeared in six games, all off the bench, at a little over 23 minutes per game. He was averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists with splits of 50 percent shooting from the field, 35.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 83.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Harper had helped the Spurs get off to a strong start to the regular season as they held a 5-1 record in the games that he played in. Since then, the Spurs have gone 6-3 and are currently 11-4 and in fifth place in the Western Conference standings. They are tied record-wise with the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Lakers hold the current tie-breaker due their 1-0 head-to-head record so far this season.