Know all details about Ron Harper and mom Maria Harper, who are the parents of Dylan Harper
Dylan’s mom, Filipina Maria Pizarro Harper is going viral after her son Dylan Harper was selected as the No. 2 draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs.
Pizarro had spoken about Harper’s training in a 2023, saying, “I’m not big on girlfriends or house parties. We get up, we go to school, we have our activity, whether it’s basketball or it’s dance, we get our homework done, and that’s about it. That’s the tone that I set in the household.”
Who is basketball coach Maria Pizarro Harper, mom of Dylan Harper, bio, age, height, parents, husband, nationality, ethnicity, college and Instagram
Dylan, who played for Rutgers University, was the second pick of the 2025 NBA draft after the Dallas Mavericks chose Duke University’s Cooper Flagg as the first overall pick.
Dylan Harper, a top prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft, inherited a strong basketball legacy from both his parents—Ron and Maria Harper—who had long-standing ties to the sport. His father, Ron Harper, built a successful NBA career spanning from 1986 to 2001. During that time, he had played for teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Clippers, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Pizarro, 50, and Ron are no longer together, divorcing in 2012 after seven years of marriage and three kids. They had first met in 1998.
Ron’s tenure with the Bulls and Lakers earned him five NBA Championship rings—three with the former alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and two with the latter during the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, Maria Harper had once starred as a Division I athlete at the University of New Orleans from 1993 to 1996. Her passion for the game reportedly began in grade school and carried her through to a full athletic scholarship.
Maria is from Bataan, Philippines. She is Filipina and immigrated to the U.S. at age 7, and five-time NBA champion dad Ron married in 2005, but divorced in 2012 and they have three children together: Ron Jr. in 2000, Dylan in 2006, and sister Mia in 2010.
Maria Pizarro who is aged 50 and stands 5 feet 4 inches tall, came to the US from the Philippines with her mother Lilia and three older sisters in 1982. Her father represented the Philippines in jai alai in the 1968 Olympic Games. Maria was Dylan’s coach through grade school, on AAU teams and in the driveway.
Maria’s Instagram account is currently set to private.
ANOTHER FIL-AM IN THE NBA
Filipina Maria Pizarro Harper is going viral after her son Dylan Harper was selected as the No. 2 draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs.
Dylan, who played for Rutgers University, was the second pick of the 2024 NBA draft after the Dallas Mavericks chose… pic.twitter.com/ed9SdgMa43
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) June 26, 2025
Known for her scrappy style of play and commitment to team-first basketball, she went on to coach the sport for nearly three decades. She had coached at the high school level and later became an assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team at Don Bosco Prep, where her sons Dylan and Ron Jr had both played. Maria is currently the assistant coach at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey.
Ron and Maria had first met in 1998. Their first child, Ron Harper Jr, arrived in 2000, followed by Dylan in 2006 and daughter Mia in 2010. The couple married on New Year’s Eve in 2005 but separated in 2012. Maria later shared that the years following the divorce were particularly challenging, though her focus had always remained on her children’s well-being. Maria was Dylan’s first coach, guiding him from elementary school through high school.
Dylan Harper mom about to gain a million new followers on Instagram. #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/c8JBsQ6l7w
— Chris| Sports Fanatic (@SportsWinn) June 26, 2025
Dylan often speaks with deep appreciation for the role his mother played in shaping both his game and his character. She has been there for him every step of the way—through wins, losses, and everything in between. While Maria has laid the groundwork, it was his father, Ron, who instilled in him the mental toughness and relentless work ethic needed to chase a dream as big as the NBA.
Even with Ron’s impressive NBA legacy, Dylan didn’t shy away from teasing him. In an interview, he joked that if he could play one-on-one with any NBA player from history, he’d pick his dad—mostly because Ron loved to talk about the game, and Dylan was ready to put that talk to the test.
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