Brook Lopez experienced the good and the bad in equal measure in his first season with the Clippers.
Brook Lopez has been on four NBA teams in his 18 season career and seemingly seen it all, both the good and the bad, but the season he's had with the Los Angeles Clippers is unlike anything he's experienced before.
No team has experienced higher heights and lower lows this season than the Clippers.
From a historically bad 6-21 start to the season that was rife with injuries and controversy, to a near-miraculous comeback that has propelled the Clippers not only to a winning record at season's end, but a chance to make a playoff run with a Play-In game against the Golden State Warriors coming up on Wednesday.
This was Lopez's introduction to Clippers' basketball. It's his first season with the team after signing a two-year, $17.94 million contract in June 2025 and with it seems like he's already experienced everything that a regular season could throw at him in 2025-26.
Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) plays for the rebound against Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) during the second half at Intuit Dome. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn ImagesWhat It Means To Be A Clipper
These kinds of highs and lows reveal so much about what a team is made of and it showed Lopez exactly who his new teammate are and what the culture of the Clippers really is.
As he discovered, it's a culture of grit and toughness.
"I've had a great time learning about this group. Learning about what it's about to be a Clipper," Lopez said. "It was great to be in the battle with them... and to see them in the trenches everyday putting their work in. Despite our record. Despite the way we started, our guys came in, had this same mindset of just trying to get better."
LA Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) reacts after a play against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half at Moda Center. Jaime Valdez-Imagn ImagesIf the Clippers didn't break after the way their season began and they didn't break after the controversy surrounding Chris Paul's dismissal from the team, then it seemed like nothing would break them.
Shocking the World
When the wins started piling up, the rest of the NBA world was shocked, but the Clippers were simply vindicated for having the confidence in themselves that they did.
LA Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) shoots the ball over Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) as forward Toumani Camara (33) watches during the first half at Moda Center. Jaime Valdez-Imagn ImagesWhen times are bad, sometimes the most that you can do is focus on the work and that's exactly what the Clippers did. They weathered the storm and they proved that being a Clipper means buckling down and sticking it through, even when times are at their hardest.
Lopez has been on a championship team, playoff teams and teams scraping the bottom of the league, but what the Clippers have brewing in the locker room of the Intuit Dome is something truly different from anything else.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5), Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) and Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) battle for a loose ball in the second half at Intuit Dome. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesIt's a team that's overcome the odds and looking to keep shocking the world, starting with the Warriors.