Ronald Harper Sr. (born January 20, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1986 and 2001 and is a five-time NBA champion. His sons Dylan Harper and Ron Harper Jr. both currently play in the NBA.
Ronald Harper Sr. was born on January 20, 1964, in Dayton, Ohio. Harper was the youngest of six children.
In high school, he first attended Belmont High School in Dayton, but was cut from the freshman team and didn't play as a sophomore. He later transferred to Kiser High School in Dayton and as a senior averaged 20.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, five assists, five steals and six blocked shots and was named first-team All-Ohio. He graduated from Kiser in 1982.
The Kiser High School facility is now an elementary school. In 2006, Harper attended a ceremony at which the school's gymnasium was named for him.
Harper starred at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for four seasons from 1982–83 through 1985–86.
As a freshman, Harper scored 12.8 points per game and led Miami in rebounding with 7.0 per game as the team went 13–15. As a sophomore, he led the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game and in rebounding with 7.6 per game, as Miami went 24–6 and won the Mid-American Conference championship, the MAC tournament championship, and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament.
In his junior season, he set personal bests and again led the team with 24.9 and 10.7 rebounds per game and also led in steals with 2.6 per game. He was named MAC Player of the Year as the team went 20–11, finished second in the MAC and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament.
In his junior season, on March 8, 1985, he set both a Miami and a MAC tournament single-game scoring record of 45 points in one game (as well as snaring 18 rebounds). His scoring average of 24.9 per game is second all-time at Miami behind Fred Foster's 26.8 in 1967–68. He again led the team in rebounding with 11.7 per game as well as assists (4.3) and steals (3.3). He also became the first MAC player in history to record a triple-double with 38 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists against Ball State University.
Again he was named MAC Player of the Year and also named second-team All-American by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). Miami went 24–7 to win the MAC title and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Harper is Miami's all-time leading scorer with 2,377 points, and also leads in rebounding with 1,119. He was the first men's player in MAC history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career. He also holds Miami's all-time records for career scoring average (19.8), games started (118), minutes played (4,164), field goals (969), and blocked shots (173). He had a career field goal percentage of .534.
At his final home game in 1986, he became the first basketball player in Miami history to have his number (34) retired.
Cleveland Cavaliers (1986–1989)
Harper was selected in the first round (eighth overall) in the 1986 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Harper made his NBA debut on November 1, 1986. He broke 30 points in just his sixth game, with 34 against the Sacramento Kings on November 11, 1986. He scored a season-high 40 points against the Boston Celtics on February 4, 1987, and had one of his finest all-around games on February 10, 1987, against the New York Knicks with 25 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Harper started all 82 games and averaged 22.9 points per game (ppg) and 4.8 rebounds per game (rpg) along with 4.8 assists and 2.5 steals. He placed second in Rookie of the Year balloting behind Chuck Person of the Indiana Pacers.
In his second season, he was limited to 57 games due to a severely sprained ankle suffered in the second game of the season that kept him out until late December. For the season, he averaged 15.4 ppg. The Cavaliers made the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Chicago Bulls, three games to two.
The following season, 1988–89, he again started all 82 games, averaging 18.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals as the Cavaliers advanced to the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round, again by the Chicago Bulls three games to two, this time with a one-point loss in game 5 on the Cavaliers’ home court — the now-defunct Richfield Coliseum. This game was ended by The Shot.
Los Angeles Clippers (1989–1994)
In his fourth season, 1989–90, after seven games with the Cavaliers, on November 16, 1989, Harper was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, alongside two first-round draft picks and a second-round draft pick, for Reggie Williams and Danny Ferry, the latter having refused to play for the Clippers.