Brook Lopez is on the verge of a historic NBA season

According to Basketball-Reference.com there have been 111 player seasons in which a player averaged at least one block per game and at least one three-pointer made per game. I know that doesn’t sound very impressive, but that’s 111 individual seasons out of the thousands that have occurred since the three-point line was added to the NBA in 1979.

Only seven of those seasons occurred in the 20th century. Scottie Pippen did it in 1994-95 for Chicago, as did Cliff Robinson for Portland, and Robert Horry for Houston. Horry did it again the next year, and then Paul Pierce and Cliff Robinson again in ‘98-’99, and Vince Carter in ‘99-’00.

In the 21st century Shane Battier did it four times; Kevin Durant’s done it six times; LeBron’s done it three times; Dirk six times; the Matrix, Shawn Marion, did it six times; ‘Sheed Wallace did it SEVEN TIMES (GO PISTONS); and the Big KAT, Karl-Anthony Towns, is currently averaging 1+ blocks and 1+ threes made for the third year in a row. Over 40 players have averaged that for a season, resulting in those 111 instances.

Brook Lopez is one of those players. He’s also averaging 1+ block per game and 1+ three per game for the third season in a row on strangely his third team in a row (Brooklyn, the Lakers, and now the Bucks). BroLo is actually averaging 2.1 blocks and 2.5 threes made. If he keeps that up for the entire season, he’ll be the first person in NBA history to average more than 2 blocks and 2 threes per game.

Blocks are one of the scarcer stats in fantasy basketball. Only seven players this season, including Brook Lopez, are averaging 2+ blocks per game: Myles Turner, Anthony Davis, Hassan Whiteside, JaVale McGee, Rudy Gobert, and Joel Embiid. (BTW, only six players are averaging 2+ steals per game: Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Robert Covington, Chris Paul, James Harden, and Jimmy Butler. Some stats go hand-in-glove with quality of player, and all six of those guys are absolute stud muffins.)

Only 19 players, including BroLo, are averaging 2.5 threes made per game. Of those 19 players, Brook Lopez is the only one who averages even one block per game (and, again, he’s averaging 2.1 BPG). He provides elite stats within elite stats, from a position (center) that doesn’t usually have that kind of shooting (although, the unicorns are multiplying, so this might be a harbinger of things to come, rather than an outlier). BroLo is also 9th best in 3PT% out of that group, tied with Klay Thompson. He’s also got the third highest overall plus-minus out of that group: Steph’s at 10.7, then Paul George at 7.7, and Lopez at 7.6.

In fact, Brook Lopez has the 9th best plus-minus in the entire NBA (30 games played minimum)! And what’s crazy is that Lopez is currently 62.2% owned in ESPN, tied exactly with Jonas Valanciunas, and good for 110th and 111th most-owned players. BroLo has a 7.57 player rating on the season, good for 43rd overall in ESPN basic. He’s the only player in the top 50 owned in less than 80% of leagues. He’s been tremendous in fantasy this year and people are treating him like he’s outside of the top 100 players.

Think about it this way: Brook Lopez has the 4th most total blocks in the NBA this year (97) and, he has the 11th most total three pointers made (116). Who cares if he’s deficient on the boards? He makes up for it with elite numbers in multiple other stat cats, and then some. Remember, he’s top 50 on the year! His ADP was 122. Hot Jesus, that is some nice fantasy return on a 10th round pick! He’s about to make history with the first ever 2+ BPG and 2+ 3PM season!

One more thing: he’s only 30 years old. He’s exactly the kind of player LeBron would want on his team (good job, Lakers!), and BroLo is thriving next to Giannis. Who’s to say this is a blip when Lopez has been doing this for three years running? There’s absolutely no reason to think he can’t keep this up, at least for a few more seasons. It’s time to admit it: Brook Lopez is a bit of a unicorn. He’s a little bit older, and he doesn’t grab boards, but damn: the dude’s balling in a way that we haven’t seen in fantasy before. Enjoy the rare production if you’re lucky enough to have him on your team. Giannis and the Bucks sure are.