Brook Lopez added 15 pounds of muscle

One of the biggest running jokes of basketball media days is that players and teams pump themselves up to look better than they actually are. Everyone’s in the best shape of their life, somehow looking slimmer and quicker while adding 15 pounds of muscle.

But in the case of Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez, it looks like he actually did it.

After playing much of last season at about 275 pounds, Lopez clocked in at Nets training camp at a robust 290. “I don’t feel slower or anything, I feel stronger. more powerful,” Lopez said, apparently channeling a superhero.

Lopez says he expects his playing weight in-season to be a bit lower — around 280 to 285 pounds — but the longest-tenured Nets player looks enormous after an offseason of weight training with teammate Andray Blatche.