NBA Brothers Who Played in the League

NBA brothers have shaped the league for as long as the league has existed. They share gyms growing up, push each other through high school workouts, and end up wearing different jerseys in front of the same parents in NBA arenas. Some of the most famous families in basketball history are sibling acts — twins drafted back-to-back, brothers traded for each other in the same deal, a household with four sons who all reached the league. The list below moves through the most notable brother sets in NBA history, the families that produced multiple pros, and the very small group of siblings who have actually won championships in the same era.

The Definition Matters

A real "NBA brother set" is more than two guys who share a last name. Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace played together in Detroit and won a title in 2004; they aren't related. James Michael McAdoo and Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo are also unrelated despite playing the same position decades apart. The brother sets below are confirmed siblings — by blood, raised together — and at least two of them actually appeared in an NBA regular-season game. That distinction matters because the league has produced a surprising number of coincidental last-name pairs, and the families that genuinely sent multiple sons to the league deserve to be separated from the noise.

The Gasols — The Most Successful Brother Set Ever

The strongest case for the most accomplished brother duo in NBA history belongs to Pau and Marc Gasol. Pau, the older brother, was drafted third overall in 2001, won Rookie of the Year, and went on to a 19-year NBA career that ended with two championships (Lakers, 2009 and 2010), six All-Star selections, and a Hall of Fame induction. Marc, four years younger, was a three-time All-Star, won Defensive Player of the Year with Memphis in 2013, and captured a championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

The Gasols also share one of the strangest brother-related transactions in league history. The 2008 Memphis-to-Los-Angeles trade that sent Pau to the Lakers was the same deal that sent Marc's draft rights from Los Angeles to Memphis. The Lakers had drafted Marc 48th overall in 2007 but never signed him; Memphis acquired those rights, signed him out of Spain, and turned him into the franchise center for the next decade. Pau won two titles with the players Memphis sent to the Lakers in return for him. Marc anchored a Memphis defense that became the toughest out in the Western Conference. Both brothers ended up exactly where they belonged.

The 2015 All-Star Game added the cherry on top: Pau and Marc became the first set of brothers ever to start in the same All-Star Game, taking the opening tip against each other in New York. The only other brother pair to even play in the same All-Star Game was the Van Arsdales in 1970 and 1971 — and they were never starters together. Two All-Stars, three championships between them, and one historic mid-court handshake. That's the bar for any brother set that comes after.

The Antetokounmpos — The Family With Four NBA Brothers

If the Gasols are the most accomplished duo, the Antetokounmpos are the most prolific family. Four of the five Antetokounmpo brothers have reached the NBA: Giannis, Thanasis, Kostas, and Alex. The oldest brother, Francis, played semi-professionally in Greece but never made it to the league.

Giannis is the headliner. Drafted 15th overall in 2013 — a slot that now functions as one of the great draft heists in league history — he became a two-time NBA MVP (2019, 2020), the 2021 Finals MVP, and an NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021. Thanasis, the oldest brother to make the NBA, was drafted in the second round in 2014 and spent most of his career with Milwaukee, where he was on the bench for the 2021 title run. Kostas was a second-round pick by Philadelphia in 2018 and bounced between Dallas and the Lakers; he was on the 2020 Lakers championship roster on a two-way contract, technically winning a title alongside LeBron James without appearing in the Finals. Alex, the youngest, signed a two-way deal with the Bucks in 2025, making the Antetokounmpos the first family in NBA franchise history to have three brothers on the same team simultaneously.

The Antetokounmpos also hold a record that may never be broken: in 2021, after Milwaukee's championship run and Kostas's 2020 ring with the Lakers, Giannis, Thanasis, and Kostas became the first trio of brothers to win NBA titles. Three rings, one family, one continent of origin most NBA fans didn't see coming until Giannis was a top-five player in the league.

The Plumlees — All Three Brothers Made the NBA

Mason, Miles, and Marshall Plumlee all played college basketball at Duke, all won an NCAA championship there, and all reached the NBA. Miles was drafted 26th overall by Indiana in 2012 and played seven NBA seasons across five franchises, with his best stretch coming in Phoenix in 2013–14. Mason, taken 22nd by Brooklyn in 2013, has had the longest career of the three and is still active in 2025–26, most recently with the San Antonio Spurs. Marshall went undrafted in 2016, signed with the Knicks, and played 29 NBA games across stints with New York and Milwaukee.

Three brothers in the NBA from one family is rare enough to make the Plumlees an answer to a half-dozen trivia questions. Their first meeting against each other came on November 15, 2013, when Mason's Nets played Miles's Suns and the older brother got the better of it in overtime. The Plumlees also share the distinction of being one of the cleanest "all three NBA" sibling sets — no asterisks, no questionable cup-of-coffee tenures. Each of them was on an NBA roster long enough to count.

The Holidays — A Trio Across Two Decades

The Holiday brothers — Jrue, Justin, and Aaron — became the first trio of brothers to share an NBA court simultaneously on December 28, 2019, when Jrue's Pelicans faced Justin and Aaron's Pacers. Jrue scored 20 points and Aaron led all scorers with 25 in a New Orleans win. The three brothers checked in together late in the game so the moment could happen on purpose, and it remains the only time three siblings have been on the floor at once in league history.

Jrue is the most accomplished of the three: a two-time All-Star, a six-time All-Defensive Team selection, a 2021 NBA champion with Milwaukee, and a 2024 champion with the Boston Celtics. Justin, the oldest of the three Holiday brothers in the NBA despite not being the first one drafted, won a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 as a rotation player. Aaron, the youngest, was a first-round pick of the Pacers in 2018 and has bounced through several franchises as a backup guard. Two Holiday brothers with championship rings, three brothers on the same court, and one of the deeper NBA family trees of the modern era.

Editorial illustration: NBA Brothers Who Played in the League

The Twins

Twins are the headline-grabbing subset of NBA brother stories. Three pairs of identical or fraternal twins stand out in league history.

Tom and Dick Van Arsdale were the first pair of identical twins to play in the NBA — both drafted in the 1965 Draft, Dick at #10 to the Knicks and Tom at #11 to Detroit. Each was a three-time NBA All-Star. Dick had his number retired by the Phoenix Suns, where he finished his career. Tom holds a quieter record as the player who has appeared in the most NBA games without ever making the playoffs. They finally played together as teammates in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season — their last as pros, and the only year they wore the same uniform.

Brook and Robin Lopez are the only set of NBA twins where both brothers played 16-plus seasons. Brook was an All-Star, a two-time All-Defensive Team selection (Second Team in 2019–20, First Team in 2022–23), and won a championship with Milwaukee in 2021. Robin played 992 NBA games across 16 seasons with nine franchises and built a reputation as a tough-minded backup center and the league's most public enemy of opposing mascots. The twins reunited as Bucks teammates in 2019 after spending their first 11 NBA seasons on different rosters.

Markieff and Marcus Morris are the only set of twins ever drafted back-to-back in the first round — Markieff at #13 to Phoenix in 2011, Marcus at #14 to Houston. Two years later they were reunited on the Suns, becoming the first set of twins to start together in an NBA game. Markieff added a championship to the family résumé in 2020 with the Lakers' bubble title; Marcus has not.

Amen and Ausar Thompson are the newest pair on the list, drafted #4 (Houston) and #5 (Detroit) in 2023 — the highest a pair of brothers had ever been taken in the same modern draft. Amen made the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2025, just his second pro season. They have a chance to be the most accomplished twin set the league has ever seen.

The Currys — A Father and Two Sons

The Curry brothers are part of one of the most successful basketball families in American history. Dell Curry played 16 NBA seasons from 1986 to 2002, finishing as the Charlotte Hornets' all-time leader in points and three-pointers when he retired. His sons Stephen and Seth both reached the NBA.

Stephen, born in 1988, became the greatest shooter in basketball history. As of 2025–26 he holds four NBA championships, two MVP awards (including the only unanimous MVP in league history in 2016), a 2022 Finals MVP, and 12 All-Star selections. Seth, the younger brother, went undrafted in 2013, fought through G-League stints, and built a 10-plus-season career as one of the most efficient shooters in the league — he currently ranks seventh in NBA history in career three-point percentage. In 2019, Stephen's Warriors swept Seth's Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals, making the Currys the first brothers to face each other in a Conference Finals series. In October 2025, Seth signed with Golden State, joining Stephen on the same NBA roster for the first time in their careers.

The Grants — A Twin Story With a Generational Sequel

Horace and Harvey Grant are identical twins, both born July 4, 1965, both drafted in the first round of 1987 — Horace at #10 to Chicago, Harvey at #12 to Washington. Horace became a four-time NBA champion: three with the Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993) and one with the Lakers (2001). He made the All-Star Game in 1994 and was a defensive anchor on every roster he played for. Harvey was a steadier scorer but never made the playoffs past the first round in any of his 11 seasons.

The Grant family also produced a second NBA generation. Harvey's sons Jerami and Jerian both played in the league. Jerami has become a productive starter and 20-points-per-game scorer for multiple franchises; Jerian was a first-round pick of the Wizards in 2015 and had a several-season run as a backup point guard. Horace is, by relation, the uncle of both — making the Grants one of the more decorated multi-generational families in NBA history.

The Ball Brothers — A Lottery Story

Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo Ball were the most-covered brother set of the late 2010s before any of them played an NBA game. Two of the three made it to the league. Lonzo was selected #2 overall by the Lakers in 2017, and LaMelo went #3 to Charlotte in 2020 — making them the first set of brothers ever drafted in the top three of an NBA draft. LaMelo won Rookie of the Year in 2021 and made his first All-Star team in 2022. Lonzo's career has been derailed by serious knee surgery that cost him multiple seasons.

LiAngelo, the middle brother, went undrafted in 2018 and never appeared in a regular-season NBA game. He was briefly on the Detroit Pistons roster in late 2020 but was waived before the season started. The Ball brothers fall short of the trios above because LiAngelo's NBA time was preseason-only — but with two top-three picks, they remain one of the highest-pedigree brother sets in league history.

The Other Modern-Era Sets

Two more sets earn a mention. Klay and Mychel Thompson — Hall of Famer Mychal Thompson, the #1 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, raised three sons. Klay became a four-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star with the Warriors; Mychel had a brief NBA stint with Cleveland; Trayce played Major League Baseball. The Thompsons are one of five father-son duos to both win NBA titles as players.

The single coincidence worth noting: no pair of brothers has ever faced off in an NBA Finals. The closest moment came in 2019, when Stephen and Seth Curry met in the Conference Finals. The Finals matchup has eluded the league for 80 years. Given that the Antetokounmpos, Currys, Lopezes, and Holidays all overlap in the modern era, it remains theoretically possible — but it hasn't happened yet.

The Modern Explosion

The 21st century has produced a noticeable bump in brother sets reaching the league. Three reasons explain it. AAU and travel-team circuits introduce siblings to elite competition simultaneously, accelerating both brothers' development on the same calendar. Global expansion has multiplied the eligible-prospect pool — the Antetokounmpos, Gasols, Jokić (whose two older brothers are large enough to be Internet legends but never played in the NBA), and Markkanens all came through international pipelines that didn't exist 30 years ago. And the league's roster economics — two-way contracts, expanded G-League minimums — give brothers like Alex Antetokounmpo and Marshall Plumlee a route into a team building that didn't exist for most of the 20th century.

The next decade is going to keep the list growing. The Thompson twins are 21 and already making All-Defensive teams. LaMelo Ball is in his prime in Charlotte. Steph and Seth Curry are playing together for the first time at 37 and 35. Somewhere in the AAU circuits of 2026, the next Gasols, Antetokounmpos, or Plumlees are already running pick-and-roll against each other in a high school gym. The NBA's brother count is only going up.

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