The Detroit Pistons have won themselves a whole new crop of admirers in the last few months due to their sudden playoff rise, but it appears as though one of their young players in two-way forward Ron Harper Jr. has already planted his fandom flag with another team in the NBA.
Harper's younger brother, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, was selected No. 2 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs. Harper would have likely been picked No. 1 overall in most draft classes, but the presence of new Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg pushed him down a spot.
Harper's allegiance to the Pistons will obviously make them his primary interest, but he also declared himself a fan of the Spurs as well now that his younger brother is locked in with San Antonio. Openly rooting for another team is a big no-no, but Harper had to do so in order to support his family.
Pistons' Ron Harper Jr. openly supporting Dylan Harper's Spurs during NBA Draft
Harper's younger brother is now the third member of his family to make it to the NBA. In addition to his older brother having bounced between the Pistons, Toronto Raptors, and Boston Celtics, their father, Ron Sr., was an indispensable member of the Chicago Bulls' dynastic run of the 1990s.
Unfortunately for the two brothers, both of them are in very different situations. Ron Jr. will need to fight for the possibility of ever sneaking into an NBA rotation, while Dylan will likely be tabbed as a franchise savior expected to start for 10 years or more in San Antonio.
The one advantage Ron Jr. has over Dylan is the fact that JB Bickerstaff's improved team, who play in a much weaker Eastern Conference, has a much better shot at going on a deep postseason run than a Spurs team that is very young and likely a year or so away.
That first Pistons-Spurs game of the 2025-26 season will be a banner day in the Harper household. It's still exceedingly rare for a pair of brothers to face off against one another in the NBA.