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To many of the younger Johnson’s childhood friends from Seattle, he was never called Mitch. He was and still is “Maestro.” That nickname was bestowed on Johnson in middle school by his father, homage to the kid’s uncanny ability to control a basketball game like a symphony. Years later, the moniker followed Johnson to college at Stanford. “He was our conductor,” said Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez, who starred with his twin brother Robin on Stanford teams from 2006 to 2008. “He was leading us out there.”
Now that Garland is running pick-and-pops with Lopez, he can create more room to roam in the midrange. Coming from a Cavs team that specialized in crowded spacing to play over the top, Garland is enjoying the free range he has to roam. Playing alongside a player with Leonard’s resume and championship experience has been exciting, running inverted pick-and-rolls and just feasting off the double teams Leonard draws all the time. “It’s a lot easier to just play with him, play off of him,” Garland said. “Everybody is just playing freely. You don’t have somebody behind your back and somebody that’s over your back all the time. Just going out there, just playing the game.”
Since Garland’s Clippers debut on March 2, however, the team is 12-5, with the NBA’s fourth-best net rating in that span, per Cleaning the Glass. There have been a lot of clean wins against tanking teams, but there have also been impressive victories over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors; two close losses to their potential first-round opponent, the San Antonio Spurs; and now a five-game winning streak. With Kawhi Leonard playing his best basketball in years, the Clippers look like they haven’t taken a step back while getting much younger. “The stuff he’s brought to this team, it’s extraordinary,” Clippers center Brook Lopez said. “Only he could do it. He’s made a huge change, a huge positive change for this group.”
Brook Lopez receives a standing ovation in his return to Milwaukee 👏 pic.twitter.com/L9zGAfLiUu
— NBA (@NBA) March 29, 2026
Justin Russo: Brook Lopez, on Darius Garland’s deep 3s opening up the offense: “He obviously draws so much attention and makes the floor so big and makes great decisions with that power that it makes it easy for us to, obviously, play off that.”
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Justin Russo: Brook Lopez, on his 84th half of multiple blocks and multiple 3s: “I’m very proud of the way I’ve grown my defense throughout my career. I just want to keep showing everyone that I’m a great two-way player, not just offensive but defense as well.”
How much longer do you want to play? Brook Lopez: I always had a number of 20 years. A lot of great players played 20 years [whom] I looked up to. Timmy [Duncan], Kobe [Bryant]. I think Ticket [Kevin Garnett] got there. That’s always been a goal of mine, but I feel great. So now that we’re as far along as we are, I don’t really want to put a cap on it. Just see how long we can keep going until we fall.
What has been the key to playing in 18 NBA seasons? Brook Lopez: Just always being … vigilant, militant about getting your work in, just being good about it. And I have great role models in the league in my life — starting with my mom — who were great about just being efficient, being very mindful about getting their work in each and every day. Whether it’s getting on the court, getting in the weight room or just getting treatment in, doing everything you can to stay at [your] best, stay at my peak for as long as I can, because I love playing. I’m lucky to be able to play this game for a living. And I love being out there with my guys, helping my team win.
Harden was traded to Cleveland. Zubac was traded to Indiana. Two key starters. How did you feel about those trades? Brook Lopez: It was tough, obviously, because they brought so much to the team and so much of our success hinged on them. That being said, I don’t think internally we see our expectations as that different. We’re very confident. We definitely, a while ago, turned a corner and we know we can play with anyone.
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Top Data NBA... Live!: ?????? ??HOF??? Brook Lopez (24 points today) has passed Lou Hudson and is now ranked 84th all-time with 17,942.
Ivica Zubac was speaking to The Athletic inside the Clippers’ locker room on the road, about two months before he was traded to Indiana. He pointed toward teammate Brook Lopez, who was seated on a stool across the room. Lopez is perhaps the patron saint of 3-point shooting centers, because he made no 3s in his first six seasons and just three of them through the first eight, only to go on to make 1,136 through Feb. 1 — second-most of all time by a center. “I definitely like the way the league is going. Pretty much everyone’s shooting now,” Zubac said. “I feel like that’s one of the ways that I can stay in the league for a long period of time.”
