saw up close. Now, he’s set to bring that same edge to the Alamo City.

“I see myself being a guy that can bring energy, toughness, and physicality,” Bryant said after the draft. “Somebody that’s going to show up on a consistent basis and just work his ass off. That’s what I bring.”

Bryant’s basketball roots run deep in the region and beyond. His grandfather on his mother’s side, Mike “Doc” Torres, is a USA Deaf Basketball Hall of Famer. His father, D’Cean, a Long Beach State alum, played his AAU ball with and against names like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. D’Cean’s brother, Travon, was a 2000 McDonald’s All-American before heading to Missouri and later playing professionally in Europe. When Travon returned home, he started a coaching career, personally training players such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

That lineage fueled Bryant’s rise. He spent the first three years of high school playing under his father at Fountain Valley and Sage Hill. His recruiting stock and national profile skyrocketed after his junior season at Sage Hill, where he averaged 22.1 points, 13.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.9 blocked shots, and 1.6 steals per game.

His stock continued to rise after transferring to powerhouse Corona Centennial for his senior season, where he was named a 2024 McDonald’s All-American. In 2024, Jared McCain became the first player in Centennial history selected in the first round of the NBA draft when the Philadelphia 76ers took him No. 16 overall out of Duke.

Now, just a year later — after a year at Arizona, where Bryant averaged 6.5 points per game off the bench for a Wildcats team that made the Big 12 Tournament championship game and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, Bryant is the second Centennial standout to hear his name called.

Listed at 6-foot-6½ without shoes and 214 pounds with a near 7-foot wingspan, Bryant projects — at least initially — as a prototypical “3-and-D” wing in the NBA. His size allows for defensive versatility and switching, and he shot 37% from 3-point range in college, which the Spurs hope translates to the NBA.

Neither Bryant nor the Spurs are strangers to this blueprint, betting on a young forward who’ll cut his teeth on the defensive end but teeming with raw offensive potential. In fact, Bryant patterned his game after one specific Spurs legend built in this mold, a player he got the rare opportunity to study up close during his formative years at Riverside King.

“Immediately, the first guy I think of (to model his game after) was Kawhi,” Bryant said.

“Just his defensive versatility, being able to guard multiple positions early in his career, and as you saw his progression, he became one of the best players in the world.”