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“After 15 seasons in the league, Tobias knows exactly what he is chasing, and that’s a championship with the Spurs,” — Torrell Harris
The San Antonio Spurs believe the road back to a championship runs through Long Island.
Just weeks after losing to the Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals, the Spurs added two of the Island’s biggest basketball names: signing Dix Hills native Tobias Harris to a two-year contract and reportedly hiring Rockville Centre native Billy Donovan as the team’s new lead assistant coach.
Donovan, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2025, brings one of the most accomplished coaching résumés in the sport.
The 61-year-old, who started his coaching career at St. Dominic in Oyster Bay, led the Florida Gators to a pair of national championships and spent the last 11 years as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls.
The Knicks also had interest in Donovan last offseason when he was still with the Bulls, but were denied permission to speak with him. Donovan remained in Chicago and the Knicks eventually hired Mike Brown.
Harris, a veteran forward and former Half Hollow Hills West and Long Island Lutheran standout, brings more than a decade of NBA experience and a long track record as a reliable scorer and locker room presence. He’s averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds since being drafted 19th overall in the 2011 draft.
Since then, he’s played in Milwaukee, Orlando, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philly and then back in Detroit the last two seasons.
“After 15 seasons in the league, Tobias knows exactly what he is chasing, and that’s a championship with the Spurs,” Tobias’ father, Torrell Harris, told Greater Long Island. “This decision was about putting himself in the best position to win at the highest level.”
This isn’t the first time the Spurs have turned to Long Island for help.
Back in 2011, the team signed North Babylon native and St. Mary’s graduate Danny Green, who went on to play a key role in their 2014 NBA championship run.
Green started all five games of the 2014 NBA Finals.
Last season’s San Antonio team already had a New York area-heavy roster with Brooklyn native Julian Champagnie, New Jersey native Dylan Harper, and former Knicks center Luke Kornet.
Top: Detroit Pistons forward and Dix Hills native Tobias Harris, left, looks for a shot against Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) during the first half of Game 7 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
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