VOCAL LOCAL
Nets want Brook to talk it up more
DURHAM, N.C. — When Brook Lopez resigned with the Nets, general manager Billy King had a message for him:
It’s time for you to be a leader.
“At the end of the season when I met with Brook, I said, ‘We definitely want you back, but part of that is we want you to be more of a leader,’” King said. “‘We want you to be more vocal. You don’t have to be rahrah and jumping around waving towels, but I need you to push this group and help guide it where you want it to go.’ ”
Anyone who has ever spent time around Lopez — who is happier reading a comic book than being in front of a camera — knows being a vocal presence isn’t exactly a strength.
But as the 7footer prepared to begin his eighth NBA season, he’s trying to do just that. He was part of the informal workouts the Nets had in Las Vegas during summer league, and has been a presence for the past several weeks at the team’s New Jersey practice facility along with most of his teammates for informal workouts.
He has made a point of try ing to talk it up, and his teammates have noticed.
“Brook is going out there and being more vocal, talking to guys, trying to put guys in the right position,” Thaddeus Young said. “Brook has been very vocal in what he wants to do and how he wants to play and how we should play as a team.
“He’s definitely more vocal. That’s a thing, a component I haven’t really seen him grab hold of [in the past]. But this year he’s definitely been more vocal, putting guys in the right spots, being more demonstrative for the basketball, which I don’t mind at all, and I hope he definitely grows and continues growing into that role, as well.”
In many ways, it’s fitting Lopez is getting this opportunity. The only Net remaining from the team’s New Jersey days, he has endured countless trade rumors over the past few seasons — not to mention having to come back from a pair of significant injuries to his right foot.
When healthy, there never has been a doubt about his talent. He was a deserving AllStar in 2013, and looked to be back at that level over the second half of last season, when he averaged 19.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and shot 52.5 percent from the field.
“Brook, when he’s healthy, he’s one of the top two centers in the game,” Jarrett Jack said. “Just the things, the talents he possesses, not many bigs have those types of tools being a clear 7footer. We’re going to put a lot on his shoulders, but he’s ready to handle it.”
With star teammates such as Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Joe Johnson the past few years, Lopez has been able to operate in the background — where he prefers to stay. But now he is the clear leader of the team, and its younger players look up to him. The two rookies, Chris McCullough and Rondae HollisJefferson, both singled out Lopez when asked who had impressed them during their first few weeks on the job.
“The first day I walked in the gym and saw Brook Lopez,” McCullough said, “I was like, ‘Damn, I finally made it, because I’m in a locker room with him.’ ”
HollisJefferson mentioned Lopez when asked who had stood out during the team’s informal workouts.
“Brook has impressed me with his footwork, his hook shot,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I need some footwork like that.’ For him to be 7foot and have footwork like that, it’s pretty incredible.”
Lopez admitted it’s a little weird to be seen as a veteran presence, but there’s no escaping it now. After Williams’ failed leadership, the franchise needs its top player to want to be its focal point both on and off the court. That’s something Lopez has said he wants to do.
If this team is going to defy low expectations and make the playoffs, it will be because Lopez has accepted that role and thrived in it.
“I think the opportunity is at hand, and I’ve been ready,” Lopez said. “I’m excited for this chance.”
Now he just had to take advantage of it.