San Joaquin Memorial High School alum Brook Lopez appearing in NBA Finals

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- San Joaquin Memorial High School alum Brook Lopez will look to help win a championship for the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time since 1971.

In a Game 1 loss to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night, Lopez scored 17 points on 7-14 shooting, also adding six rebounds.

Lopez helped lead the SJM Panthers to a Valley Championship in 2006.

His success to get to this point is no surprise to his former high school coach.

"Some people thought I was crazy because I let Brook shoot threes, but he would make them in practice and I always said if you could make them in practice, I'm going let you shoot them in a game," says Will Hooker. "I could see the talent. He's a good person and that alone will keep you in the league. Plus, being seven-foot and hitting an outside shot will help as well."

Lopez played at SJM and then went to play collegiately at Stanford before being selected #10 overall in 2008 by the then-New Jersey Nets.

Game 2 of the 2021 NBA Finals is July 8 at 6 PM PT. You can watch it right here on ABC30.