Brook Lopez knows rising LA Clippers can play with anyone

LOS ANGELES — Thirty-seven-year-old Brook Lopez relaxed in a chair in the Los Angeles Clippers’ locker room Monday after the 1,162nd game of his NBA career. Lying on the floor nearby was a massage gun to help his 7-foot-1 frame stay limber. It has likely had more use of late after Lopez went from reserve to a starter following two major trades.

Now in his 18th NBA season, Lopez still loves playing in the league and is happy for whatever role the Clippers need as they’re finally sailing in the right direction.

“I’m ready for whatever my team needs me to do,” Lopez told Andscape after logging 16 points and four rebounds in a 126-118 win over the New York Knicks on Monday. “That has always been my way through the course of my career. And obviously, the same applies here. I’ve been putting the same work in regardless of my role. So, I knew I’d be prepared, obviously. I knew I’d be ready, prepared when whatever time came. …

“I signed up to win, so I’m cool. Whatever it takes. I’m happy to be playing, starting, helping my team win.”

Lopez has been in the NBA so long that he actually entered the league playing for the New Jersey Nets, now the Brooklyn Nets, as the 10th overall pick out of Stanford in 2008. The 2013 NBA All-Star has averaged 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in his NBA career. A member of the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, Lopez also had his twin brother in the NBA in Robin, who played from 2008-24 and is an unsigned free agent.

Brook Lopez will turn 38 on April 1 and has nine Clippers teammates under 25. The Los Angeles native signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Clippers last offseason. Having begun the year as a reserve, Lopez is averaging 10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 26.8 minutes per game as a starter entering Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls. His Clippers host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday on ESPN (10:30 p,m. ET).

The following is a Q&A from two interviews with Lopez in which he talks about his ride with the rising Clippers, who now hold a winning record after starting the season 6-21; his feelings about James Harden and Ivica Zubac being traded; how much longer he wants to play in the NBA; leaving Milwaukee after a long tenure with the Bucks; his comfort in his own uniqueness; his love for Disney, and much more.

The Clippers recently got to .500 after being 6-21. What is the mindset from here?

We just got to keep going. No doubt, we will be in the play-in [tournament]. No doubt that’s a goal. But who knows from there? Again, there’s an understanding in this room. We can play with anyone.

Harden was traded to Cleveland. Zubac was traded to Indiana. Two key starters. How did you feel about those trades?

It was tough, obviously, because they brought so much to the team and so much of our success hinged on them. That being said, I don’t think internally we see our expectations as that different. We’re very confident. We definitely, a while ago, turned a corner and we know we can play with anyone.

You went from reserve center to starter after Zubac was traded. How is your body handling the bigger minutes since the trade?

It’s good. We’ve got a great group of PT [physical therapist] people, great strength and conditioning guys who help keep me going, read me well, know what I need. And they do a great job of taking care of me.

How do you relate with so many young guys?

It’s the inverse, obviously, from when I first came in the league. I was a young guy once. [The NBA has] a lot of foreigners that come in, don’t speak much English, don’t know American culture, but we all connect through the game. I may not understand a lot of the things they’re talking about in the locker room, but when we’re out there on the court, everything is simpatico.

What has been the key to playing in 18 NBA seasons?

Just always being … vigilant, militant about getting your work in, just being good about it. And I have great role models in the league in my life — starting with my mom — who were great about just being efficient, being very mindful about getting their work in each and every day. Whether it’s getting on the court, getting in the weight room or just getting treatment in, doing everything you can to stay at [your] best, stay at my peak for as long as I can, because I love playing. I’m lucky to be able to play this game for a living. And I love being out there with my guys, helping my team win.

You won your lone NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and played with Giannis Antetokounmpo from 2018-26. Was it hard to leave Milwaukee?

Yeah, it was interesting. I was there for so long. I had a lot of great friends. Some people were like brothers on that team.

When you see your brother working as a TV analyst, do you kind of see your mortality in this game of basketball?

Definitely a little bit, I suppose. I’m obviously closer to it than the beginning, but I’m very much in the moment right now. I feel great. I’m having a great time with these guys. It’s such a wonderful group. We got all [good] guys. There’s not a bad guy in the group. We’re all about the right thing, all about the same thing.

It’s fun to come into work. Any job situation, that’s what you want. And we just happen to be able to play basketball pretty well as well.

Is it tough not having your twin brother in the league right now?

It’s different, but he’s doing great. He’s been working on a project that’s been close to his heart for a long, long time. He’s had characters for this probably since middle school or high school even. He’s been working on an anime [Japanese animation] TV series. …

He has a sketchbook he carried everywhere with him during his career. And he’s been working on pitching it to different studios. And so, he’s in a great place right now. I don’t know if he’s officially signed his retirement papers. I think he’s still working out, but he’s doing great. He’s doing things that he loves and still just crushing it.

How much longer do you want to play?

I always had a number of 20 years. A lot of great players played 20 years [whom] I looked up to. Timmy [Duncan], Kobe [Bryant]. I think Ticket [Kevin Garnett] got there. That’s always been a goal of mine, but I feel great. So now that we’re as far along as we are, I don’t really want to put a cap on it. Just see how long we can keep going until we fall.

Did you, your twin brother and older brothers have challenges growing up with your unusual height?

We were always taller than kids our age, but so we had each other. So, it didn’t really seem that different. There was always my twin going through it as well. And so, we never talked about anything like that. We always saw it as an advantage. And we saw our older brothers doing great things as well. And we looked up to them. We wanted to be just like them. My mom’s tall, so we never saw it as anything but an advantage. It’s just the way it was.

How have you always been so comfortable in your own skin?

I’m so lucky to have been around my brothers and my mom, who were just the most creative, diverse — interested in all sorts of different things outside of basketball. And I love basketball, do anything for it. I’m all about it. Live, eat, breathe basketball. It’s my life, but I’m fortunate. My mom, she always gave us a chance to try other things growing up. To do other sports. Play water polo, play volleyball, do track and field, baseball, just everything to try and see what we like.

I was in choir in elementary school. I did band all the way through middle school until high school. Saxophone, alto and tenor. And my brother [Robin], he was in the percussion section. He did the tenor drums, bass drums. We did marching band, orchestra. We just did everything. So, we got to try all sorts of things and find things we were passionate about.

It was normal for us. We loved doing all those different things. Again, we loved basketball. We wanted to be like our older brothers and play it. I remember telling my mom in second grade after a day of school, sitting down in the car and she picked me up and I told her, “Mom, before I play in the NBA, I want to go to Stanford.” So, I knew as a kid what I wanted to do. But we still did these other things.

We got our [basketball] workouts in with our brothers. We did it because we loved it, not because [we were made to]. But we looked into all these other things to discover other interests outside of basketball, other passions that really motivated us, inspired us.

As a Disney aficionado, what is the benefit to being close to Disneyland while playing for the Clippers?

It’s a blessing to be back down here. I go about once a month. I grew up with my mom taking all her boys, all us brothers to Disneyland. I have so many fond memories of that. So, I’m blessed to be able to go with my wife and take my son who is almost [2 years old] — just to see his eyes light up when he does certain things like when he [rides] the “choo choo” [Marketplace Train Express ride] or is on the boats at Jungle Cruise. The [Enchanted] Tiki Room is his favorite right now. And you see him light up, and his head keeps turning from side to side as he takes everything in. It’s awesome.

You own a home near Disney World in Orlando and frequent that park as well. How does Disneyland in Anaheim compare to Disney World?

I grew up out here, so it’s beyond Disney World, in my opinion. It’s the park Walt [Disney] originally built, the one he walked through. And there’s just so much history and lore that was built up there. being the only park there until 2001. It’s just, there’s a lot of amazing stuff back in that little park.

So, at your height, is it tough to enjoy and fit in the rides?

All the work I’ve put in basketball, I put that same work into going to the parks. I’ve figured out all the ways to contort myself and to make sure I get in those attraction vehicles.

You also visited Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios [on Oct. 27, 2025, one day before the Clippers played the Golden State Warriors]. How was that visit?

CP [former Clippers guard Chris Paul] set it up through his guy, [Walt Disney Company CEO] Bob Iger. He went all the way to the top. And Iger was gracious enough to get it set up for us. CP had the car waiting right when we got off the [Clippers team] plane. We went straight there. And it was just the most amazing experience to check out the studios, get a tour of it, see how their offices are.

You can just see how the employees there are brimming with creativity — looking for ways to unleash it everywhere. Seeing all the different cubicles, they’re not even really cubicles. They got secret rooms that lead to jungle temples and witches houses and all sorts of incredible stuff. My words fail to describe. It was a really impressive place.

What are your favorite Pixar movies?

WALL-E. WALL-E is probably my favorite Pixar movie. And Rex, the dinosaur from “Toy Story,” is my favorite character. Disney Pixar has the ability to tell stories and enchant people throughout the world in so many different mediums.

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