All About the NBA Brothers Brook and Robin

NBA stars Brook and Robin Lopez may have a mock rivalry on the court, but couldn’t be closer off it

Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty

Robin Lopez #42 and Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks pose for a portrait during Media Day on September 30, 2019.

Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez and free agent Robin Lopez are a pair of NBA brothers known for their defensive dominance, hilarious antics and unique personalities.

Brook and Robin — the youngest of four brothers — were born one minute apart on April 1, 1988, in North Hollywood, California, to Deborah Ledford and Heriberto Lopez. After Ledford and her husband divorced in 1994, she raised the Lopez twins as a single mother.

The twins are known for being the biggest Disney fans in the NBA, which Ledford largely influenced. She always encouraged the boys to be creative, read, learn and play. In the process, Walt Disney’s storytelling became one of their inspirations, and the twins developed a lifelong obsession with Disney parks.

“Disneyland was always their favorite place to go,” Ledford told the Chicago Tribune. “They would sit in the back of the car when they were 8, 10, 12 years old and plot the trip. They would have the rides down to a T … and it went beyond Disneyland. They really liked the vision Walt Disney had and the quality of his artwork.”

The twins first rose to prominence when they played together at Stanford before being drafted into the NBA in 2008. They were chosen five picks apart, with Brook as 10th overall by the Brooklyn Nets and Robin as 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns.

The brothers stand at 7 feet 1 inch tall, with Brook known for his sharp-shooting and defensive capabilities while Robin is recognized as a defensive stalwart. Brook was an All-Star in 2013 with the Brooklyn Nets and won an NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, whereas Robin has played various roles for multiple NBA teams.

When they played for the Milwaukee Bucks, the team put out a video highlighting them, titled Brook & Robin: A Lopez Story. The clip featured the brothers joking about each other to continue their mock rivalry before Brook shared his true feelings.

“That was one thing we always took pride [in] growing up … playing in high school together, playing in college together was having each other’s backs,” Brook said. “We always have each other’s backs and Robin has that same mentality.”

Here’s everything to know about NBA twins Brook and Robin Lopez.

They were raised to be curious and creative by their single mother

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Brook Lopez of the Brooklyn Nets in action against Robin Lopez of the Chicago Bulls at Barclays Center on October 31, 2016.

Not only do the Lopez twins get their height from their mother — who is over 6 feet tall with brothers who are close to 7 feet tall — but they also get their creativity, curiosity and love of storytelling from her.

She didn’t keep TVs in the house so the twins could spend more time developing these traits. “I wanted them playing outside, reading books and writing stories, building Legos and being creative with their mind,” Ledford said to the Chicago Tribune.

“I felt like there was something for us to explore in every corner,” Robin said in the same interview. “Especially in regards to the books, they were tucked away in every conceivable nook and cranny. She had shelves on all four walls going from floor to ceilings and even shelves in the closet.”

Ledford was a former competitive swimmer who studied at Stanford and eventually became a high school math teacher in her hometown of Fresno, California. Her parents were also teachers and athletes.

“It just seemed natural for us to have a wide breadth of interests,” Robin said. “The influences I had were all people with versatile interests who had a large world view.”

Brook and Robin played college basketball together at Stanford

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Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez during a game against the University of Texas on March 28, 2008.

The Lopez twins played on the same team while attending San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, but rose to national prominence while they were teammates at Stanford.

The two became freshmen at Stanford in 2006, but the wheels were in motion for them to attend their mother’s alma mater long before.

“We never talked about it,” Brook said to the Los Angeles Times in 2007. “It was kind of unspoken we were going to play together at Stanford.”

After seeing their older brother Alex play college basketball at the University of Washington but end up disappointed and transferring back to play at Santa Clara in California, they knew not to do the same.

“I remember exactly, Brook said ‘You know mom, before I play in the NBA, I’m going to play at Stanford,’ ” Ledford said in the same interview. “He taught himself to dribble when he was 2 and taught himself on a 10-foot basket at 4.”

During their time at the school, both brothers were known for their defensive prowess. Robin became third all-time in blocked shots at Stanford, while Brook developed into more of a scorer, culminating with a game-winning buzzer-beater in the 2008 NCAA March Madness Tournament.

They are huge Disney fans

Robin Lopez Instagram

Robin and Brook Lopez with friends on a ride at Disneyland.

The brothers may be best known in NBA circles for their Disney fandom. The two even did an interview with Disney Parks sharing memories and their love of the most magical place on earth while playing in the 2020 NBA bubble at Disney World.

“I remember being two years old, my first trip to Disney World, dancing with Chip and Dale: Two people that Rob and I then admired and still admire today,” Brook said. “You know, they share a lot of qualities with us. They look alike, they quarrel sometimes, but they can get along too.”

Brook’s NBA nickname even stems from his love of Disney and his favorite ride Splash Mountain. The nickname is a triple entendre, with Splash coming from his ability to make 3-pointers and mountain coming from his height.

Brook also got engaged in front of the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom in Disney World.

Robin says he’s been to the parks more times than he can count and shared why the parks mean so much to him on The Old Man and the Three.

“We frequented Disneyland as kids because we grew up in North Hollywood in Southern California,” he said. “We’ve always loved comic books, animation, things like that … I think what really made the fandom grow was having a twin brother and living in the same room and enjoying exactly the same things.”

Robin has a funny feud with NBA mascots

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Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez pose for a photo before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on December 25, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Brook and Robin bring the laughs wherever they go with their mock sibling rivalry, their well-known celebrations mimicking drinking tea in a game and fake WWE-style fights with teammates.

Perhaps the most notorious Lopez antic is Robin’s rivalry with NBA mascots, which often ends with him and the mascot in a fake physical altercation.

When the twins did a joint interview on The Old Man and the Three, Robin revealed the origin of his mascot feud. It turned out that it was inherited from his brother.

“I came to Detroit one night with Hooper, the [Detroit] Pistons mascot and he came after me because he got stomped out by Brook, Andray Blatche and the rest of the Brooklyn Nets earlier that season,” he said. “I inherited some kind of blood feud and it’s continued to this day ever since.

They played with the Antetokounmpo brothers

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Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez stand for the National Anthem before the game against the Miami Heat on March 02, 2020.

For the second time in NBA history, two pairs of brothers played on the same team when Robin and Thanasis Antetokounmpo joined their respective All-Star brothers, Brook and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Milwaukee Bucks.

The pair of siblings first played together for the entirety of the 2019-2020 NBA season and teamed up again at the start of the 2023-2024 NBA season before Robin was traded.

Brook told NBA.com how much he enjoyed playing on the same team as his brother for the first time since their Stanford days.

“It’s obviously great to have another player who really fits into the way the Bucks are mentally, how we approach the game,” he explained. “A tough player who is trying to play the right way. Defense first — we’re based on our defense. And who’s unselfish and wants what’s best for the team.”

After saying what he liked about playing with Robin, Brook continued their mock rivalry by joking about everything he didn’t enjoy.

“I don’t have enough time for that,” he quipped. “The game is at 7 o’clock tonight, right? I could just make a huge list between now and then. I could keep going.”

They created their own Manga

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Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez arrive at the premiere of “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot” on June 25, 2008 in New York City.

In keeping with their creative nature and love of storytelling, the brothers made their own manga — a style of Japanese comic books — called Transition Game in 2021.

The twins were producers who contributed to the story, while their second oldest brother, Christopher, was the head story writer and producer.

“I think it’s really a dream come true for all of us,” Robin said to Sports Illustrated. “We’ve grown up on comics, on manga, and to actually be putting out our first issue, it’s something that we’ve thought about for such a long time.”

The story is about Kameron Ford — a 15-year-old basketball prodigy whose single mother takes a job offer in Japan, forcing him to relocate while adapting to a new culture and way of life.

The twins wanted to go with the manga style because of their love for the art form, and they felt it would enhance their story.

“There’s a certain energy that you get from manga that you don’t necessarily get from other styles of comics,” Robin said. “On the basketball court and off the basketball court, but also dealing with those emotions: doubt, fear, there’s a little bit of romance. I think it lends itself perfectly to the manga format.”

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Publish date : 2024-03-27 07:00:00

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