Brook Lopez hasn't had the type of season he was expecting during his first year as a member of his hometown Los Angeles Lakers. The 7-footer recently expressed the reasoning behind his visible frustration in recent games, noting it's directly correlated to his lack of playing time.
Lopez's frustration wasn't any more evident than during Wednesday's 127-105 loss to the Orlando Magic, covering his face with a towel as his team was down 28 points at one stretch.
“On the court, I can be very visible, with my emotions [showing on my face],” Lopez said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. “So, yeah, just trying to control myself, breathe a little bit, and just keep cool because it was an unfortunate game for us. Just watching it, it was tough to be out there. Just trying to get settled a little bit.”
The Stanford product has ventured into 3-point shooting in recent years, but even that hasn't kept head coach Luke Walton from toying with different lineups and opting for younger, faster, and more mobile bodies at the center position.
“It's different for me,” Lopez said of not playing as much this season. “It's an adjustment. We definitely have a surplus of talent, I think, in the front court. We can go with a lot of different lineups, it's definitely a blessing. Obviously, everyone can't be on the floor at the same time. I understand that.”
Lopez played in only nine minutes throughout the whole game, his lowest total of any game this season, as his minutes average has been slowly declining — playing only 17.1 minutes per night instead of the 23 he mustered to start the campaign.
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