LOS ANGELES — In a crowded room at the Intuit Dome, dozens of reporters from across the globe surrounded Ron Harper Jr.
Several were from the Philippines, inquiring about whether the 25-year-old Celtic would ever consider eventually playing for the Philippine national team (he would).
Others hailed from Portugal, eager to know what it was like to share the floor with Neemias Queta, the nation’s first-ever NBA player (the two have long been close friends).
For Harper, this kind of media frenzy — being
the main event — has not been the norm for a very long time.
For the last few years, he’s bounced around in the G League, fighting for a spot in the NBA. He’s been on four two-way contracts in three different cities, been waived multiple times, and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury two years ago that hindered his confidence — and, for a stretch, his career.
Now at All-Star weekend for the first time, and on the heels of his best-ever stretch in the league, he is eager to show that he belongs.
On Friday, he’ll participate in the Rising Stars game as a member of the G League team; the Celtics guard was selected to represent the Maine Celtics as one of the G League’s best players after averaging 24.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season. He’ll share the floor with other G League standouts, a list that includes Alijah Martin, Yang Hansen, Jahmir Young, and Sean East II, among others.
“We were talking a little bit in the locker room before we came out here — I think we were all really excited to compete and represent the G League and be able to go out there and show people that we can compete on the grandest stage,” Harper Jr. said. “So I feel like we all got a common understanding that we are gonna go out there, play the right way, play as a team — and we’re ultimately trying to get a win.”
Then, on Saturday, he’ll lace up in the NBA’s Shooting Stars competition as part of a three-person team that also includes his father, former NBA Star Ron Harper, and younger brother, San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
That plan came together at the last minute, and Harper couldn’t turn down his brother and father once he was presented with the ask.
“They had both agreed to it, and they asked me to do it,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ I wasn’t gonna stick them in with some random on the team. And, it made sense. I knew I was gonna be here already for the Rising Stars game. It was just gonna be a great opportunity to create some lifelong memories with family.”
The timing of the high-profile weekend is fortuitous; this month, Harper has begun to break into an NBA rotation for the very first time.
In fact, he’s played nearly as many NBA minutes in February (70) as he has in his entire NBA career before that (105).
His breakout game came earlier this month, when he started in a game against the Houston Rockets and tallied 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists — all career-highs. Most notably, he got the Kevin Durant assignment on defense — and held the Rockets’ star to one of his worst games of the season.
On Friday, Harper deemed guarding Durant his “Welcome to the NBA” moment.
“A dude like that, you don’t want to let him catch the ball,” he said. “And then sometimes he gets to the spot, and you can’t do nothing about it.”
Ron and Dylan Harper join forces at NBA All-Star Weekend
One of the cool elements of the weekend for Ron Harper is the opportunity to spend time with his brother, Dylan. The two will face off against one another in Friday night’s Rising Stars challenge and team up on Saturday night.
The brothers, who are six years apart, grew up battling each other in 1-on-1 basketball games in the driveway.
“I had a very strict older brother philosophy where — you got to earn it, I’m not gonna let him win,” Ron Harper said. “I used to tell my parents every time — he used to get mad at me because of it — that he’s gonna do it to somebody else one day.”
While both have had very different journeys to the NBA, they’re similarly in position to impact winning on elite NBA squads.
Both brothers are on the second-best teams of their respective conferences; the Celtics hold a 35-19 record, while the Spurs are 38-16.
Dylan was a lottery pick with expectations to come in and contribute to the Spurs right away; he’s averaged 10.9 points in 21.7 minutes per game this season.
Ron’s only averaging 10.7 minutes across 10 games this season, but his production and on-court opportunities have trended up, particularly in the wake of the midseason trade that sent Anfernee Simons to Chicago and created a larger opportunity in the Celtics backcourt.
And, Ron still likes his chances against his younger brother.
“If we play tomorrow in the driveway, ain’t no refs out there? I’m winning.”
