Let’s be completely honest. Brook Lopez deserved better after getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017. He was the heart and soul of the franchise, especially once they made their move to Brooklyn. Both fans from New Jersey and Brooklyn were able to witness Lopez’s greatness for nine long years. Particularly New Jersey, as they witnessed him get drafted. In those nine years, the former Stanford big man became an All-Star in 2013. He also scored 10,444 points, putting him above Bucks Williams (10,440 points) to be the Nets franchise leading scorer.
At one point, it seemed like Lopez was always going to be a Net. Well, that was until June 20, 2017. The 33-year-old was packaged in a deal to Los Angeles for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov. Brooklyn also threw in the 27th pick for that year’s draft. Russell did end up being a revelation for the Nets, fully loading into an All-Star in 2019. His efforts along with the team’s success were enough to lure stars like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn in that same summer.
Although the Nets have evolved as not just a franchise, but an organization, Lopez will never be forgotten. He put it all on the floor every night and the team failed him. They didn’t surround him with the right talent in his nine years playing for the Nets. As a result, he was only able to make it as far as the second round. Now as a starting center for a championship team, the Nets legend was soaking it in on his special night:
“It can be the longest night of all-time. I don’t want this to end — This is a surreal dreamscape here.”
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