{"id":2144,"date":"2026-06-07T07:33:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2144"},"modified":"2026-06-07T07:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:33:02","slug":"with-the-celtics-long-out-of-the-playoffs-ron-harper-jr-rooting-hard-for-brother-dylan-of-the-spurs-in-the-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2144","title":{"rendered":"With the Celtics long out of the playoffs, Ron Harper Jr. rooting hard for brother Dylan of the Spurs in the NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>In his perfect basketball world, Ron Harper Jr. would be playing in the NBA Finals, trying to help the Celtics win a second title in three years. Boston\u2019s first-round loss to Philadelphia ended that dream, but Harper\u2019s rooting interest has remained high. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2142\">Nelly Korda seizes share of third-round lead at US Women\u2019s Open with late birdie spree<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>For Harper, whose rise this season from two-way-contract player to two-year NBA contract was one of the Celtics\u2019 better success stories, it\u2019s like this: If you can\u2019t be there yourself, rooting for your younger brother is the next best thing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So that\u2019s what Ron is doing, as rookie standout Dylan Harper shines for the Spurs, emerging as a vital contributor in a Finals run that continues in Monday\u2019s Game 3 against the Knicks.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ll tell you this,\u201d Maria Harper said over the telephone Friday, \u201cafter the Spurs win the championship, they\u2019re going to share that brotherly moment and then Ronald is going to tell Dylan to his face, \u2018I\u2019ll see you next year.\u2019 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>What a story that would be for the Harpers, from the boys\u2019 father, five-time NBA champion Ron Sr., to their youngest sister, Mia, the undisputed best athlete of the family, for proud mother Maria and her two sons. Separated by six years but bound by the tightest of heartstrings, all eyes right now are on 20-year-old Dylan. The No. 2 pick of the 2025 draft, Dylan\u2019s 10-point outburst off the bench in the first quarter of Game 1 made him the youngest player to record 10-plus points in an NBA Finals game.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Kevin McHale on how Larry Bird would dominate today\u2019s NBA: \u2018It\u2019d be a five-alarm fire what Larry would do\u2019<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cHe\u2019s always played years beyond his age, and he showed again how he can affect the game,\u201d Ron Harper Jr. said Friday, driving from Boston to the family\u2019s New Jersey home that sits less than 30 miles northeast from Madison Square Garden, which they frequented often growing up as Knicks fans. \u201cFor lack of a better word, I <i>need<\/i> the Spurs to win. I watch the games, and it\u2019s really nerve-racking, but being able to watch him on the big stage, to be among the last few players still playing, it\u2019s really special.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ron\u2019s sincerity speaks to everything their relationship is about. From their youngest days, when comparisons to their father littered their basketball road with what could have been crushing expectations, Ron set the path. His drive, his work ethic, his ability to drown out noise and be his own man, Dylan saw it all. Modeled it all. When Ron fought the doubters and took his no-star high school recruit status to one of the two Division 1 programs to offer him a scholarship, Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell got a program changer, an example setter, a student who would finish his four years with a degree in journalism and a player who would finish a Big Ten career as an All-American.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>Its popularity is at an all-time high, but the WNBA continues to get public relations all wrong<\/div>\n<p><span>Ron took Rutgers, one of the longest-suffering programs in college basketball, to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 40 years (and then back to a second). He was not selected in that ensuing 2022 draft, but he kept working his way through opportunities in Boston, Toronto, Detroit, and back to Boston, where he carved such a niche this season that Joe Mazzulla trusted him to start Game 7 of the playoff series against the 76ers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2140\">Saturday\u2019s tournament roundup: Christian Maranian spearheads Acton-Boxborough\u2019s second-half surge<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m just so thankful he\u2019s in Boston,\u201d Pikiell said. \u201cI thought Ron was as draftable a player as there was in college basketball his senior year. He was over 1,800 points. He got better every single year. I always knew he was a pro. He just can score. And the way the pro model was drifting into the position-less player, I\u2019m so glad that [team president] Brad [Stevens] and those guys saw what I\u2019ve seen forever from the kid. He can play the point guard, 2, 3, 4, and he\u2019s strong enough to defend all of them. His evolution has been like it\u2019s always been. He gets better. He learns. He\u2019s coachable. He\u2019s a big-moment guy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m so glad they locked him in. I know they\u2019re going to want to lock him into a five-year deal after this one ends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>A.J. Brown comes with risk. But unlike other teams in town, the Patriots are doing what they can to win.<\/div>\n<p><span>As Ron toiled, Dylan saw that, too. And as the younger Harper rose to the top of the high school recruiting charts, one of the highest-rated players in the nation, he chose to spend his one college season at Rutgers. Just like his brother.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMe and Dylan have a great relationship, and it\u2019s always been like that,\u201d Ron said. \u201cWe are inseparable around each other, working out, hanging out, it\u2019s always been me and Dylan ever since he\u2019s been a kid. As we get older, we get closer even though we\u2019re further away. That\u2019s the beautiful thing about brotherhood. On our darkest days or best days, we are always there to provide support and have each other\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They faced each other as pros for the first time this season, back in March when the Spurs beat the Celtics in San Antonio. But Ron\u2019s career-high 22 points off the bench bested his brother by 13. Games like that are what speak to the future that Stevens and Mazzulla can see for Ron. He may not explode on your scene, but he knows how to stick. The more you know him, the better he gets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cHe is my Crock-Pot,\u201d Maria said. \u201cAnyone who sees all the good ingredients Ronald has and takes the time to look at that pot, watches it simmer, they come out with the best-tasting dish they ever had. That\u2019s what the Celtics have done. They recognize who this kid is today and what he can be tomorrow. They invested in him, and he felt that. Boston is where he wanted to be, where he chose to be after getting waived by the Pistons. He\u2019s starting to blossom. The difference with Dylan, he\u2019s a little bit of a microwave, so to speak.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2138\">Saturday\u2019s seven HS tournament takeaways  as chaos hit the MIAA brackets in the quarterfinals<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Meet the Harpers: brothers in arms, ready to cook.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The No. 2 pick of the 2025 draft, Dylan\u2019s 10-point outburst off the bench in the first quarter of Game 1 made him the youngest player to record 10-plus points in an NBA Finals game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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