The Secret to Carter Bryant's Recent Success? Honesty

SAN ANTONIO — Stephon Castle doesn't know who made the deal with Carter Bryant, but the rookie is bound to it for the remainder of the season.

Three more missed dunks, and the clippers come out.

"Three more for the rest of the year," Harrison Barnes clarified before adding fine print to the deal, "but he's also a rookie, so there's a variety of things that are on the table."

If Castle could protect the former Arizona Wildcat, he would. But his hands are tied.

"I really didn't expect him to agree to it," Castle said, claiming Bryant declined a $25,000 buyout to go bald anyway. "I'm not pushing him to do it, but he made the bet already."

The San Antonio Spurs sit at No. 2 in the Western Conference with the third-best record in the NBA. Much of that work was done by committee; Victor Wembanyama’s extended absence with a calf strain forced others to step up — Bryant and Dylan Harper included.

Harper quickly found his niche. Forming a dynamic guard trio with Castle and the Spurs' second option, De'Aaron Fox, made for an explosive offense capable of supporting itself even without Wembanyama. Bryant, in contrast, wasn't so lucky.

Oct 27, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) warms up before the game against the Toronto Raptors at Frost Bank Center. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

After struggling from the 3-point line during Summer League and the preseason, the rookie’s offensive production stalled. Minutes were hard to come by, and the franchise's record start offered little room for patience.

Bryant played double-digit minutes just twice in his first 13 games. The lack of outward progress followed him home, lingering in quiet moments as he lay awake in bed.

"Everybody gets so fixated on see(ing) results immediately," Bryant said. "I've gone home, been frustrated and had all of these emotions: 'I'm working my tail off. Why isn't it showing?'"

To get out of those moments, Bryant leveled with himself. His goal from Day 1 has been to become the best player in the world. If he wanted to get there, he'd have to endure this.

"I understand it's not going to happen overnight," Bryant often reminded himself. "Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way."

It was a truth the team around him knew well.

"It gets to the point where you kind of just chuckle," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "It's not a matter of if, just when ... he's very talented."

Honesty has helped Bryant more than he thought it would.

After a few DNPs began to stack up, Bryant found it easier to focus on the lessons he was learning rather than the sting he felt from riding the bench.

He adopted a unique mindset toward the lack of praise he was receiving.

"Compliments and things of that nature — that takes away from you," Bryant said. "That takes away from you learning and growing ... honesty ... is something I'm very grateful for."

Rashard Lewis joined the Spurs over the offseason as developmental coach under Johnson. Since his arrival, he's been one of the closest members of Bryant's circle.

Before advising Gregg Popovich’s successor, the former NBA forward enjoyed a lengthy career with the Seattle Supersonics, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. It wasn't until a few years into his tenure with Seattle that he saw the court.

"You have to take the bad the same way you take the good," Bryant said, recalling what he's learned in a short few months. "Basketball is a game of learning and growing. There's no basketball player that's going to be perfect."

Nov 20, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) shoots over Atlanta Hawks Mouhamed Gueye (18) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Between Lewis, Bryant's family and Olin Simplis — "The Guard Whisperer" — whom the rookie has worked with since he was young, the forward began to find his rhythm. Shooting, he relearned, was built as much on mind memory as muscle memory.

His teammates took notice of the change rather quickly.

"The game is slowing down for him," Julian Champagnie said. "I think he's been doing a really good job. Obviously, he's still a rookie, so he's going to make some mistakes ... (but) he wants to be the best he can. I'm happy that he's figuring it out."

Bryant went from shooting 22 percent from beyond the arc in November to 42 percent in December. His attempts came sparingly, and some games he didn't score at all, but they began to gain consistency. It was his dunks that had to catch up.

"He has a good approach," Johnson said. " He had a crazy stretch of missed dunks for a guy that can dunk the ball pretty easy."

It took a trip to Austin before Bryant got a dunk to fall in his favor. After receiving a pass on the left wing, Bryant gathered his handle and finished a two-handed flush with ease in the second half of a contest against the South Bay Lakers.

It was a sight for sore eyes.

"It’s so nice to see one go down," Bryant said, laughing.

Wanted to share this from last night when I asked Carter Bryant about his dunk. Story soon on his short time in Austin — just know he was all smiles. #PorVida pic.twitter.com/gvCZZOogqm
— Matt Guzman (@mattgzman) January 10, 2026

An hour before tipoff in Austin, Johnson shared a conversation with Bryant. The pair reiterated their goals for the forward in however many minutes he was set to play.

Above all, Bryant was supposed to play with a free mind and "get a sweat in." But he had to learn a few of his teammates' names first.

"It's not an easy transition," Austin Spurs coach Jacob Chance said after Bryant's 15-point, five-rebound outing. "I'll give him credit ... the things we did see is the reason why he was drafted where he was. Covering ground, defensive ability ... his instincts are great."

"I told him to be yourself," Harrison Ingram added. "He did his thing tonight."

Chance spent the offseason preparing his staff for a season of continued success. After Scott King's departure for Johnson's assistant bench, the Australian native made it his goal to align the two teams, preparing for Bryant's inevitable arrival.

"Hopefully he goes back to San Antonio better for the experience," Chance said.

Not counting the Spurs' only loss of the season to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bryant has seen double-digit minutes in all but one of his contests since returning from the G League. Rebounding helped him stay on the floor, but his scoring ticked upward.

It wasn't just his Austin crowd who had rave reviews.

"He's putting his energy into the right spots," Johnson said.

The best game of Bryant's season came at home on a day in which he handled the Spurs' Martin Luther King Jr. pregame address.

The rookie thanked the crowd for attending what ended up being San Antonio's third straight win, and followed it up with a season-high 11-point outing.

Any of the struggles he'd faced to that point were vindicated by the win. And by the fact that his hair was safe — he'd successfully flushed a pair of dunks that evening.

"It's nice to know I don't have to go bald," Bryant joked. "Winning overshadows a lot. If you can win at a high level, everything else can take care of itself."

Bryant's path to his best outing clearly followed a steady progression of growth. While Jeremy Sochan took a backseat in Johnson's rotation, Bryant got the chance to step up; Devin Vassell's recent absence freed him up similarly.

Perhaps the longer runway helped Bryant find his legs. But some of his teammates enjoyed the thought of his hair fueling him to be a better dunker.

Wembanyama chuckled before he answered.

"It feels like now he wants to make dunks because he doesn't want to let the hair go," the Frenchman said. "It's good to see him have fun out there."

Dec 2, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) along with forward Carter Bryant (11) react from the bench during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Frost Bank Center. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

If Bryant weren't so capable of getting up, San Antonio might have put a pause on the teasing. But the rookie measures himself at 6-foot-8; dunking yips are fair game.

"What else are you going to do?" Johnson said, smiling. "(There) may be a little more sensitivity if he was a questionable dunker. But we've seen enough. We knew it'd be OK."

Bryant, for one, doesn't much mind the jokes.

"I just believe in myself too much," he reiterated. "I work too hard. It's missed dunks, it's not going to be the end of the world."

As the Spurs continue working toward their goal of making the Western Conference Playoffs without seeing the Play-In, Bryant will continue to find his rhythm.

He knows better than anyone that he may experience a few more games on the bench without minutes. He also knows he could end up back in Austin before the end of the season, not counting a pair of games San Antonio has booked for the fourth straight season.

Bryant will rest easy knowing his teammates will help him through adversity.

"I'm blessed," Bryant said. "Not everybody gets to be drafted or selected to a team with guys who support each other ... I'm grateful for it."

In his quest to become the best basketball player in the world — or the second-best defender behind Wembanyama — Bryant is beginning to see the fruits of his labor. But he isn't out of the rookie woods just yet.

Three more missed dunks, and the clippers come out.

"There's still plenty of time," Barnes said. "Plenty of time for that. That's a standing offer. There's plenrty of time for him to have his head shaved throughout the year."