Brook Lopez: Winning is all that matters

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Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez put together a career year this season on both ends of the floor. He averaged 19.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game on 52.1% shooting, recorded a PER that ranked fifth in the league, and committed to a stauncher defensive effort than in any of his previous seasons. Lopez earned the first All-Star appearance of his career this season, was Brooklyn’s best player during the playoffs, and his overall production this season will likely earn him his first appearance on an All-NBA team.

I, in a wonderful bout with homerism, suggested the first team, but Lopez himself shrugs off those comparisons.

“It’s not really personal – there’s not much left personally,” Lopez told Ben Couch of the Brooklyn Nets. “It’s just a matter of winning. That’s the bottom line. I think that really separates the best of the best in the league from the rest.”

Lopez certainly can’t slouch this offseason. He’s got a lot of work to do to improve his overall game, most notably continuing his evolution on the defensive end and improving his non-scoring offense. But this year was the first step towards that peak. Next step: leading a team past the first round.

Read More: Brooklyn Nets — Brook Lopez’s Game Grows in Brooklyn