NEW YORK (AP) -After years of honing their basketball skills together, Brook and Robin Lopez are going their separate ways in the NBA.
The twin 7-footers who starred at Stanford the last two seasons were both first-round draft picks Thursday night, with Brook going 10th overall to New Jersey and Robin 15th to Phoenix. They were the first set of brothers to be selected in the opening round of the same draft.
“It will be strange,” Brook said shortly after flipping a Nets cap on his head and shaking hands with commissioner David Stern. “I don’t know when the last time was, but you know, you pretty much knew it was going to happen. So, I’ve been getting ready for that and here it is.”
The brothers, sitting with family members to the side of the stage, embraced when Brook’s name was announced.
“It was great,” said Brook, who averaged 19 points and eight rebounds last season. “I was so happy to be up there. I was living a dream.”
Robin didn’t have to wait long for his moment, but had a tough time getting his Suns cap over his thick curls – causing a few laughs from the crowd at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. After averaging 10 points and five rebounds last season and blocking 156 shots in two seasons, he’ll give the Suns a backup for Shaquille O’Neal.
“That will be a new experience,” Robin Lopez said. “I know I’ve called myself tough before, so I guess this will really put it to the test. And whatever doesn’t kill me, will make me stronger, as Kanye West says.”
The Nets have some previous experience with having a twin from Stanford on their team. Jason Collins, who starred with the Cardinal with brother Jarron, played for New Jersey from 2001 until he was traded to Memphis in February.
The two sets of twins became friends when the Lopezes’ older brother, Alex, played in the same Los Angeles summer league as the Collins brothers. The Lopez brothers followed them to Stanford – and now to the NBA.
“We pretty much stayed friends and the relationship continued through college,” Brook said of his relationship with the Collins twins. “To this day, they are just sort of mentoring me and we stayed in contact the whole time.”
The Lopez brothers developed into first-rounders by practicing together in their driveway, on the playgrounds and the hardwood courts at Stanford. It’ll surely be different for the two now at the next level.
“I won’t have to rely on him, or I won’t be able to rely on him to do the dirty work and stuff like that,” Brook said, “so I can show off my game more.”
—
WEST COAST BIAS: The Pac-10 was well-represented within the draft’s first few picks.
Southern California’s O.J. Mayo went third overall to Minnesota, followed by UCLA’s Russell Westbrook to Seattle and Bruins teammate Kevin Love to Memphis at No. 5.
“I’m real proud of the Pac-10, real proud for them,” said Westbrook, UCLA’s highest-drafted player since Baron Davis went third overall in 1999.
Westbrook and Love are the highest UCLA duo taken since 1969, when Lew Alcindor went first overall to Milwaukee and Lucius Allen went third to Seattle.
“It’s crazy,” Love said of the Pac-10. “We had three of the top five picks and I was so happy for Russell that he got picked there.”
Add in the Lopez twins from Stanford – Brook went 10th to New Jersey, Robin 15th to Phoenix – Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless (11th, Indiana) and California’s Ryan Anderson (21st, New Jersey), the Pac-10 had seven first-rounders.
“The strength of the league is ridiculous,” Bayless said. “I think it’s the best conference in the country this year. It just shows a lot of people are going into the league right now.”
—
A TRUE HOMER: Derrick Rose got his wish when he was picked by his hometown Chicago Bulls with the first overall pick.
The point guard from the University of Memphis is loyal to the Windy City – and to the part of town he grew up in. When he was asked if the Cubs, who have the best record in the National League at 49-30, will win the World Series and snap their 100-year drought, he smiled.
“I’m from the South Side of Chicago,” Rose said, “so I have to say White Sox.”
The White Sox (43-35) hold a half-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central. Rose is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before the Cubs-White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field on Friday.
—
LONG WAIT: It took a while, but Darrell Arthur finally made it up on stage at the draft.
The Kansas forward, initially considered a mid-round pick, fell to the end of the first round when New Orleans took him 27th. Even commissioner David Stern clapped after he announced Arthur’s name.
“I was waiting there anxiously, just nervous,” said Arthur, who averaged 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds last season. “I didn’t know when I was going to get picked up. So me and my mom, me and my family were waiting patiently and just trying to see who was going to pick us up.”
There were reports that Arthur dropped because of a kidney condition that scared off some teams.
“I slipped a lot because they said I had a kidney problem,” Arthur said. “But I did some blood work in Washington and everything came out fine.”
—
FREE THROWS: At 6-foot-3, Derrick Rose was the shortest player taken with the No. 1 overall selection since Allen Iverson (6-foot) went to Philadelphia in 1996. … It took 12 picks for the first player who was not in attendance to be selected when Sacramento took Rider forward Jason Thompson.
—
AP Sports Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
Add A Comment