Brook Lopez

Even though the Brooklyn Nets trail in their series 3 games to 2, the best player by far to this point has been Nets center Brook Lopez. Lopez, a first time all-star this year, has continued playing well in the playoffs against one of the league’s best defenses, the Chicago Bulls. In fact, Lopez is playing even better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. Here are some of Lopez’s key stats in the playoffs so far. His NBA playoff ranking is in parentheses:

23.6 ppg (6th)

3.4 blocks per game (2nd)

42 field goals made (2nd) 

33 free throws made (4th)

89% free throw percentage (9th)

100% 3-point percentage (1st) (yeah, I know, he was 1-1, but still)

He is also averaging 8 rebounds per game, which is also up from his regular season average and he had a double-digit rebound game in game 5.

The Nets have to be extremely pleased with his production, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. In the offseason, many people criticized the Nets for giving an unproven player so much money. Now, Lopez is the most important player on the roster and very well might be the best center in the entire league.

Still, the Nets trail Chicago 3-2 in the best of 7 series and will need to win each of the next two games to advance to the next round. If they can win the next two games, there is no question that Lopez will be a huge part of the victories.

Brook Lopez

Along with today being the first day of April and April Fool’s Day, it is also the birthday of Brooklyn Nets all-star center Brook Lopez. Brook turns 25 today, which seems surprisingly young to me because of how many years he has already played for the Nets.

This is Lopez’s fifth year in the NBA and it has clearly been the best season of his career. He is averaging 19.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 52% from the field and 75% from the foul line. Maybe most impressive, Brook is 5th in the entire league in player efficiency rating (PER) and is ahead of many other superstars.

It is fitting that Lopez was born on April Fool’s Day because he seems like a jokester off the court. Back in his rookie season, he made some funny videos with former teammate Ryan Anderson and he continues to be a comic book nerd in the offseason, attending many nerdy conventions and often talking to reporters about his favorite comic book super heroes.

It is also Brook’s twin brother Robin’s birthday today too. Although Brook was born first and has had the better NBA career, Robin is enjoying a career season with the New Orleans Hornets.

Happy birthday to both Brook and Robin!