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Ron Harper Sr. takes shot at LeBron James when asked about sons Ron Jr., Dylan

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko02/15/26nickkosko59

Ron Harper Sr. saw both sons, Ron Harper Jr. and Dylan Harper, take center stage during NBA All-Star Saturday, but took a shot at LeBron James while doing so. Harper Sr. was asked if he expected his sons to follow his footsteps into the NBA.

Harper Jr. has grinded out an NBA career with the Boston Celtics after a stellar career at Rutgers, earning his way onto the active roster in-between G-League stints. Dylan Harper played one season at Rutgers and was this year’s No. 2 overall pick in the draft by the San Antonio Spurs.

Safe to say basketball runs in the family, like it does with James. LeBron James’ eldest, Bronny James, also plays for the Los Angeles Lakers with his father and Bryce James is currently enrolled at Arizona.

“I’m not LeBron James I’m not going to tell my kids what they have to do,” Harper Sr. said. Ron Harper Jr. simply responded with “yo” and a laugh alongside his brother.

Ron Harper Sr. dissing LeBron James?

There’s been a lot of discourse surrounding LeBron James and his son Bronny after the latter spent one year at USC, dealt with cardiac arrest in the summer before his freshman year, struggled on the court and was still drafted to play with his father. Regardless of opinion, that’s the reality of the situation, despite what Harper Sr. genuinely thinks or doesn’t

“Physically, I wasn’t even there. I wasn’t even there. I’m floating … From what the hell he went through, less than a year before — with his cardiac arrest,” LeBron James said of his son last March. “That came out of nowhere. Quite honestly, if he never played sports, or he never, like, started to become, you know, strong and run fast and all those stuff, we probably would have to worry about it. But as he got stronger and things of that nature, it was just something inside his heart that, you know, was just pounding at his heart and pounding at his lungs. Unfortunately, we had the incident. … Fortunately, we were able to catch it before it gets to the point where they’re not here anymore. 

“To see that happen to Bronny, and for him to be able to play that same year after that happened at USC, and then less than a year later be drafted by the Lakers. Then, in the fall, we go out there together? That’s why I wasn’t there (and it still hasn’t sunken in).”