Received early national recognition as a cover boy for
Sports IIlustrated when he was pegged as the best school-boy player in the country. Played collegiately at St. John's and was then selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft (24th overall pick) but was traded on draft night to the Vancouver Grizzlies along with Carl Herrera for point guard Antonio Daniels. Played with the Washington Wizards before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Will miss the entire 2002-03 season after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in pre-season.
2001-02:
Completed his fourth year in the NBA (second in Minnesota) by playing in 67 games off the bench...Missed nine contests (Dec. 12-30) due to a bruised left hip, and drew six DNP-CDs...Logged 7.2 mpg after March 1; he'd averaged 11.3 mpg in the previous two months...Tallied 11 points on 3/26/02 vs. Golden State, his fourth double-figure effort of the year...Finished just 5-for-22 in his final 12 contests (55.2% in the previous 15), but made 13 of his last 24 treys...Scored a season-high 13 points on 1/11/02 vs. the L.A. Lakers, and had a season-high seven rebounds on 1/12/02 at Washington ... The 12/30/01 game at Portland was the 200th of his career ... Averaged 1.3 ppg (.250 FG%, 1-2 FT) and 10.0 mpg against Dallas in the opening round of the 2002 NBA Western Conference Playoffs
2000-01:
Joined the Wolves midway through his third NBA season (Feb. 28), after being waived by Washington on Feb. 22 ... Averaged 7.9 ppg (.441 FG%, .365 3pt%, .699 FT%), 3.3 rpg, 1.5 apg and 22.4 mpg in 70 games played for the Wizards (47 games, started 38) and Wolves (23 games, started 10) ... Tallied 7.4 ppg (.454 FG%, .565 3pt%, .576 FT%), 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg and 19.9 mpg with Minnesota ... Registered 8.1 ppg (.436 FG%, .207 3pt%, .732 FT%), 3.4 rpg, 1.6 apg and 23.6 mpg with Washington ... Started 10 of the final 13 contests, with Minnesota going 6-4 in his starts ... Posted 18 points and 10 rebounds April 18 at Dallas, his first point/rebound double-double for the Wolves ... Averaged 9.4 ppg (on 47.5% shooting) and 3.9 rpg over his last 17 outings, reaching double-digits in scoring six times ... Hauled down a team-high nine rebounds March 30 at Sacramento ... Made his Wolves debut vs. Detroit on Feb. 28, after signing earlier in the day ... Tallied a career-high 26 points (10-13 FG, 2-2 3pt, 4-6 FT) vs. the Wolves on Jan. 2.
1999-00:
Averaged 4.5 ppg (.425 FG%, .615 FT%), 1.9 rpg, 0.7 apg and 12.0 mpg in 65 contests ... Posted double-figure scoring efforts on 11 occasions and led the team in assists twice ... Registered a season-high 20 points vs. Phoenix (March 17) ... Tallied 14 points March 21 vs. Golden State and again April 4 vs. Houston
1998-99:
Averaged 9.3 ppg (.446 FG%, .273 3pt%, .644 FT%), 3.5 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.04 spg and 25.9 mpg in 47 contests as a rookie for Vancouver ... Started 32 of the final 33 games, averaging 11.3 ppg over that span ... Ranked sixth among rookies in steals ... Ranked in the top 20 among rookies in six categories, including ninth in scoring ... Scored in double figures 21 times, including posting 20 or more points on three occasions ... Led the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists twice ... Totaled 23 points and three assists at the L.A. Lakers (April 19) ... Notched his first career double-double, posting 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds vs. Seattle (April 9) ... Registered a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds at Portland (April 6) ... Recorded eight points in 19 minutes during his NBA debut at Sacramento (Feb. 7).
COLLEGE:
The 6-6 guard from the Dominican Republic finished his college career ranked third on St. John's all-time scoring list with 1,927 points (trailing only NBA players Chris Mullin and Malik Sealy) and sixth in Big East history with 1,222 conference points. He also left the Red Storm for the NBA ranked seventh in steals, 14th in assists, and 20th in rebounds, and holds the St. John's record for most three-pointers made in a single season (60) and in a career (148). Lopez averaged a career-high 17.8 points per game as a freshman and earned All-Big East Rookie Team and All-Big East Third Team honors. He averaged 16.2 and 15.9 ppg in his next two seasons, then averaged 17.6 ppg as a senior and garnered All-Big East First Team honors.
