Brook Lopez receives vote for All-NBA third team

Lopez (center) and Young (right) will each miss their first game of the season tonight. (AP)

The Brooklyn Nets’ Brook Lopez received a vote for the All-NBA third team, an annual recognition for the league’s best performers.

Although Lopez’s one vote was certainly not enough to land him on the squad, it meant that the Nets were not completely shutout from the postseason honors. Lopez has been the unequivocal bright spot for the franchise since the Nets, then in New Jersey, selected the center 10th overall in 2008.

Lopez’s vote came from Brian Lewis, a member of the New York Post.

Injuries have muddied Lopez’s career up until this point, but the healthy version is one of the NBA’s best. While Lopez was often left to do his best one-man show impression in 2015-2016, especially following the serious injuries to Jarrett Jack and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, however, he and Thaddeus Young could not keep the Nets afloat in the Eastern Conference.

Before he was shut down in April, Lopez was averaging 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.7 blocks over 33 minutes per game. Lopez is a one-time All-Star as well, having replaced Rajon Rondo as an alternative in 2013.

Recently, both head coach Kenny Atkinson and general manager Sean Marks have noted Lopez’s importance to the Nets and view him as huge building block moving forward.

The full results can be found here: