Robin Lopez

Robin Lopez is a professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. Lopez was the 15th overall selection of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Suns after playing two years with the Stanford University Cardinal where he averaged 9.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks during his college career. Lopez plays the center position, a position his twin brother, Brook Lopez, also plays, but for the New Jersey Nets. Both brothers were teammates in high school at San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno, California and at Stanford. Brook Lopez was selected five spots ahead (10th overall) of Robin at the 2008 NBA Draft.

Lopez was a 2006 McDonald's All-American and Parade Magazine Third-Team All-American as a senior in high school, and both he and Brook entered Stanford with high expectations. Both Lopezes decided to enter the NBA Draft in 2008 after their sophomore seasons when they led the Cardinal to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. During his NBA rookie season, Lopez played alongside future NBA Hall of Famer, Shaquille O'Neal, one of the iconic players to have played Lopez's position of center. However, because O'Neal played so well that 2008-09 season, Lopez's playing time on the court was limited to 10.2 minutes on average in 60 games.

Lopez's second season with the Suns in 2009-10 saw the departure of Shaquille O'Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers. This afforded Lopez more playing time, including 31 game starts at center, where he averaged 24.5 minutes, 11.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Unfortunately, a back injury limited Lopez to only playing 51 games during the regular season. Lopez returned in time for the 2010 NBA Playoffs, but was restricted to 104 total minutes of play over six postseason games.

Lopez began his NBA career during the 2008-09 season. He played in 60 games, averaging 10.2 minutes, 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks. Lopez joined a veteran club with Shaquille O'Neal, Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw crowding the frontcourt position that Lopez played. Naturally, being a rookie and needing to learn the NBA pace and lifestyle also contributed to Lopez's sparse production.

Lopez averaged 7.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 31 games as a freshman and 36 games averaging 10.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks his sophomore and final season with Stanford. He was voted to the All-PAC-10 Honorable Mention team and All-PAC-10 Defensive Team. Lopez's 73 blocks during his freshman year was a freshman record. He improved with 83 blocks during his sophomore year, which was an all-time single season best. Lopez is second on Stanford's all-time blocks list with 156 total blocks garnered during his two seasons.