Stanford legend helps guide Milwaukee Bucks to a win in the NBA Cup final

Brook Lopez continues to be a star in the NBA at the age of 36, and after helping Milwaukee win the in-season tournament, he will look to add onto his already impressive resume with another NBA title.

Dec 17, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; (Left to right) Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11), guard Damian Lillard (0) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrate after winning the Emirates NBA Cup championship game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

An NBA cup champion has been crowned, and a former Stanford Cardinal will hoist the trophy. On Tuesday night, former Stanford big man Brook Lopez and the Milwaukee Bucks traveled to Las Vegas to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Emirates NBA Cup final, and in front of an 18,519 person crowd at T-Mobile Arena, won the game 97-81 and raised the cup at the end of the night.

Entering the game undefeated, going a perfect 4-0 in pool play before wins in the quarterfinals and the semifinals to reach the championship, the Bucks were locked in and ready to go. It was a close first half, with the Bucks up 51-50 at the half, but a big second half in which the Bucks outscored the Thunder 46-31 helped them win the second ever in-season tournament.

Starting every single game, the Bucks could not have won the final without the strong play of Brook Lopez, who scored 13 points and recorded nine rebounds (one shy of his second double-double of the season) and tied Giannis Antetokounmpo with the most minutes played on the team with 37.

With the win officially secured and the Bucks walking away as the last team standing, Lopez and his teammates will receive a substantial reward for their efforts. The prize fund for each player on the winning team amounting to $514,971. Each player on the Thunder, the team that finished as the runner-ups, will receive a $205,988 bonus.

Already having the reputation of being a dominant defender in the paint, Lopez has continued that trend this year and has also continued to be a solid three-point shooter, shooting 35% from beyond the arc.

A core piece to the Bucks, he had a key role on the 2021 championship team, playing in all 23 games of the playoff run while averaging 13 points and 5.9 rebounds en route to winning his first and only ring thus far.

Now that the NBA cup is done and over with, Lopez and company will now continue on their mission to achieve the ultimate prize of winning another NBA title. Starting the season off at 2-8, the Bucks have since started to turn things around and have returned to looking like the contenders that we are all familiar with.