Brook Lopez

Brook Robert Lopez (born April 1, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Nicknamed "Splash Mountain", he was named an NBA All-Star as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, and has been voted twice to the NBA All-Defensive Team while with the Bucks.

He won an NBA championship with Milwaukee in 2021.

Lopez played two years of college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal.

Brook, along with his brother, Robin, committed to Stanford University early in 2005.

Lopez's maternal grandfather played in the National Industrial Basketball League for the Milwaukee Allen-Bradleys.

The 2006–07 season was Lopez's first season at Stanford University.

He was an All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention and was named to the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team.

He averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds over the course of his freshman season.

The following season, he averaged 19.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.1 blocks per game.

He was selected as the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the then-New Jersey Nets.

He played for the Nets for nine seasons and is the franchise's all-time leading scorer.

Lopez played one season with the Los Angeles Lakers before joining Milwaukee.

His twin brother, Robin Lopez, is also an NBA player.

Lopez was born in North Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, to Deborah Ledford and his now-estranged father, Heriberto Lopez, a native of Cuba.

Lopez moved from North Hollywood to Oak Harbor, Washington, while in second grade to be closer to his older brother, Alex, who was playing basketball at the University of Washington.

One year later, he moved to Fresno, California, where he would spend the rest of his childhood and then attended San Joaquin Memorial High School.

While at San Joaquin High School he played basketball with his twin brother, Robin Lopez, and Quincy Pondexter, both fellow future NBA players.

As a 7 ft tall, 235 pound senior in high school, he averaged 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.

Both teammates played with Lopez on their successful AAU team, the Elite Basketball Organization (EBO), along with Derrick Jasper and Tre'Von Willis, both of UNLV.

In the second round of the 2008 NCAA tournament, Lopez hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer against the Marquette Golden Eagles for an 82–81 overtime victory.

He was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team and an All-American Third Team his sophomore season.

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

Lopez played in his first NBA game on October 29, 2008 in a 95-85 Nets win.

In his first game, Lopez came off the bench and had 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 25 minutes.

Lopez began starting for the Nets after an injury took Josh Boone out of the line-up, and afterwards he started putting up solid numbers for the team.

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.

The Nets started the 2009–10 season going 0-18, the worst start to a season in NBA history.

Because of their start the Nets fired head coach Lawrence Frank.

The Nets won their first game on December 4, 2009 against the Charlotte Bobcats 97-91.

Lopez contributed in the win with 31 points and 14 rebounds.

In his second season, Lopez established career bests in minutes played per game (36.9) and rebounds per game (8.6) while averaging 18.8 points per game.

Lopez started in all the Nets' games in the 2009–10 season.

Lopez was drafted by the New Jersey Nets 10th overall.

His twin brother, Robin, was drafted 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns.

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.

He was selected as NBA Rookie of the Month twice in the months of January and February.

The Nets finished at 34-48, failing to qualify for the playoffs.