Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez is a professional basketball player currently signed as a center for the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on April 1, 1988 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Robin Lopez, his identical twin brother, plays for the Phoenix Suns.

Lopez was drafted out of Stanford University by the New Jersey Nets as 10th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft. Early in his rookie season, he replaced an injured Josh Boone in the starting lineup and was immediately successful; recording 13 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. The next season as the defacto starter atr center, Lopez contributed 18.8 points and 9 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Rookie first team.

Brook Lopez was born in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California to Deborah Ledford and his now estranged father Heriberto Lopez, a native of Cuba. He was born into a life of basketball and art, as his grandfather played at the University of Colorado and his aunt was an architect residing in the Bay Area. Lopez moved from Hollywood to Oak Harbor, Washington while in second grade to be near his older brother, Alex, who was playing basketball at the University of Washington at the time. He moved to his current hometown of Fresno, California a year later, where he attended San Joaquin Memorial High School. While there, he played with his twin brother Robin Lopez, as well as current Washington standout Quincy Pondexter. Both teammates played with Lopez on their successful AAU team, the Elite Basketball Organization (EBO), along with Derrick Jasper and Trevo'nn Willis, both of UNLV.

Both Brook and Robin competed in the 2006 McDonald's All-American Game against several current NBA players including Kevin Durant and Greg Oden.

College Career

The 2006-2007 basketball season was Lopez's first season at Stanford University. He was honored as an All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention while being named to the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team. He averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds over the course of the season. His next season he averaged 19.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. In the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Lopez hit the game winning shot at the buzzer against the Marquette Golden Eagles to win 82-81 in overtime. He was named to the All-Pac-10 1st Team and a 3rd Team All-American his sophomore season.

On March 31, 2008, both Lopez brothers had declared for the 2008 NBA draft.


NBA Career

Lopez was drafted by the New Jersey Nets 10th overall. His twin brother Robin was drafted 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns. Brook Lopez began starting for the Nets after an injury took Josh Boone out of the line up. After putting up solid numbers he is now the starting center for New Jersey. His career highs are 31 points, 20 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Lopez was selected to compete in the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge. For his rookie season, Lopez averaged 13.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, playing in all 82 games of the regular season. He ranked 4th in the NBA in total blocks with 154 and 9th in blocks per game with 1.9, which was first among rookies. He finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the All-Rookie first team.