CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a radio interview Tuesday, general manager Billy King said Brook Lopez “maybe got too heavy” last summer, and said the team will try to rectify that ahead of Lopez’s expected return to the court next season.
“Injuries happen,” King said in an interview on WFAN. “I think our doctors, along with doctors outside our group, have been able to fix it, and we expect it to be OK.
“We’re going to change how we approach him, maybe with his weight. He maybe got too heavy. We’re going to try to modify that, as well, and look at some other things as well to take some of the pressure off his foot.”
It isn’t that Lopez showed up for this season out of shape, but rather he put on too much weight after going on a vigorous workout plan last summer. Lopez himself said recently the extra 15 pounds of muscle he put on last offseason — he weighed around 290 during training camp — didn’t have an impact on his foot.
“I don’t think so,” he said last month when asked again if he got too heavy last offseason. “It happened when I was 20 pounds lighter. So I don’t think that was an issue.”