Brook Lopez. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
As frustrating as Brooklyn Nets’ season was, center Brook Lopez still saw a silver lining with the way his team has competed this past NBA season.
After all, the 29-year-old claimed the franchise’s scoring leadership with his 10,444 points to finish the season, surpassing the previous record set by Buck Williams.
“It’s a very, very surreal accomplishment for me,” Lopez said on Monday. “It’s an honor to be on the same list as guys like Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson. Guys like Doctor J, Julius Erving obviously.”
“It’s wild because I’m still that kid and I’m a fan of all those players. It’s an honor and it’s a testament to my teammates, the great players that I’ve played with who put me in a great position through the nine years I’ve been here.”
Despite Brooklyn’s league-worst 20-62 record, Lopez said he still felt elated having the chance to showcase his talent in front of celebrities and VIPs whenever the Nets hit the Barclays Center court.
“Again, it’s a complete dream come true for little Brook. The little fan gets to do this for a job every night and it showed me how fortunate, how blessed, and how special I am to be in this position,” he said.
Cellar-dwellers for the past two seasons, Lopez expressed optimism with what the future holds for the franchise, noting that despite having unheralded teammates, Brooklyn is cultivating a good culture under the guidance of coach Kenny Atkinson and general manager Sean Marks.
“I think there’s a lot of positivity. Our record wasn’t spectacular, but we all felt we grew a lot, we really improved, and our team never showed any quit. Those are important things to have. We believe we’re building that foundation and it’s in place and we can do something down the line if we continue to play for one another,” he said.
“Moving forward, I’m just all in, trying to do all I can to help my team be successful. We’ve got a great group of guys who really have that team-first attitude and we really believe that we can do something special as long as we put the effort out and we put the work in.”