Nets Rank Eighth Among NBA's Youngest

When Brook Lopez scored 25 points Friday vs. the Hawks, it was somewhat of a historic milestone. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lopez became only the third starting center to score at least 25 points in a game for the Nets as a rookie. The others were Mike Gminski (three times in 1980-81) and Nenad Krstic (twice in 2004-05).

The franchise record for the most points by a rookie in his first career start is 28 by Bob Carrington against the Lakers on Nov. 25, 1977. And Lopez's 25 was also the highest for any NBA rookie making his starting debut since Randy Foye. Foye also scored 25 for Minnesota against Phoenix on Jan. 21, 2007. (Hours after Lopez's performance, Anthony Morrow of the Warriors topped it with a 37-point debut.)

It's possible there could be other milestones related to the team's youth. The Nets' roster is the NBA's eighth youngest and the franchise's youngest since the 2001-02 team, which went to the NBA Finals in spite of their youth. That team was the fourth youngest in the NBA and included four rookies, Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, Brandon Armstrong and Brian Scalabrine, as well as second year player Kenyon Martin.

This year's team is eighth youngest, with an average age of 25.804 years on Opening Night, which works out to 25 years, 294 days. By comparison, last year's team was fourth oldest, with an average age of 28.43 or 28 years, 157 days.

Here's the list:

Source: Elias Sports Bureau, NBA.com.