Brook Lopez

From Hoopedia

Brook Lopez

Position Center
Jersey #
Height 7 ft 0
Weight 260 lbs
League NBA
Team New Jersey Nets (2008-)
Born April 1, 1988 in Fresno, California
College Stanford
Drafted 10th overall in 2008 by the New Jersey Nets
Pro Career 2008 -
Former Teams none

Brook Lopez is a 7'0" American NBA player whose NBA rights are held by the New Jersey Nets. Lopez was drafted 10th overall by the Nets in the 2008 NBA Draft. His twin brother, Robin, is on the Phoenix Suns roster.

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Career

Lopez's college career got off to a rocky start when he injured his back during summer workouts and had to have surgery in the fall of his freshman year. This caused him to miss the first five games of the 2006-07 season and spend the next few coming off the bench. As soon as he regained his fitness, however, Stanford Cardinal coach Trent Johnson inserted Lopez into the starting lineup and it paid immediate dividends, as the Cardinal beat four ranked teams, including the UCLA Bruins, in the first half of the Pacific Ten schedule.

Over the course of the season, Lopez emerged as a more and more dependable offensive threat for Stanford. When their star guard Anthony Goods went down with an ankle sprain as the schedule was winding down, Lopez responded with four straight 20-point games. He also put in some stellar defensive performances, including a 12-block effort against the University of Southern California. He recorded 18 points and 11 rebounds in that game for the first triple-double in school history. Also, his twin brother Robin Lopez plays for Stanford as well, pairing up with Brook to form considerable post power.

Despite speculation that he might bolt to the NBA after his freshman season--Lopez was ranked in the top 10 on ESPN's Chad Ford's draft board--Lopez decided to stay in school.

In his freshman year, Lopez averaged 12.6 points per game, 6 rebounds per game, and had a total of 45 blocked shots.

Lopez has been deemed "Academically Ineligible" for the fall 2007 portion of the college basketball season. On October 18, 2007, he was suspended by coach Trent Johnson indefinitely for a violation of team rules. After improving his grades during the fall quarter, Lopez returned to the Cardinal December 19, 2007 against Santa Clara University, scoring 20 points in only 19 minutes.

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NBA

On March 31, 2008, both Brook and Robin Lopez declared for the NBA Draft. Brook was the higher touted player, and was drafted by the New Jersey Nets as the 10th overall selection. His brother Robin went five picks later to the Phoenix Suns.

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