Stanford Professional Athletes

Two Cardinal alumni are making noise on opposite sidelines of the Crypto.com Arena corridor — and both are making strong cases that Stanford develops NBA players who age like fine wine.

Brook Lopez: Still Blocking, Still Producing at 38

The oldest Clipper on the roster is also one of its most important. Brook Lopez, in his 19th NBA season, has looked anything but a player coasting toward the exit. Through the week's two games, Lopez was a wrecking ball: 17 points, 11 rebounds, a block, and a +18 in 27 minutes during a Clippers blowout of Sacramento on Thursday, then followed it with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 19 minutes against the Lakers on Saturday. That stat line in the rivalry game — 22 and 3 blocks — in under 20 minutes of action is a reminder of why Los Angeles targeted him this offseason.

Lopez isn't just logging minutes; he's anchoring a frontcourt that needed veteran credibility. At 38, the Stanford product is playing with the efficiency that only comes from nearly two decades of professional refinement.

Ziaire Williams: Starting Role Secured, Impact Immediate

Down the freeway, Ziaire Williams has wasted no time justifying the Lakers' faith. Williams locked down a starting spot alongside Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, and Walker Kessler for the season opener against Golden State — no small feat in a training camp that reportedly featured at least two legitimate challengers for the job. He responded with 9 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a +12 in 24 minutes as the Lakers rolled the Warriors 127-105.

Then came Saturday's L.A. derby against Lopez and the Clippers. Williams delivered his best performance of the young season: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and a +9 in 30 minutes as the Lakers won 125-117. The two-way résumé was on full display — Williams wasn't just contributing on offense, he was disrupting on defense in a game that meant something.

Williams, who had a notable moment of Dončić trash talk karma during the season opener — having clashed with Luka on the other side last season as a Net — appears to have settled comfortably into the purple and gold culture.

The Other Stanford Alumni

Elsewhere around the league, the Cardinal footprint had mixed results. Dwight Powell's 12-year run with the Dallas Mavericks came to an unceremonious end before the season even tipped off, as Dallas waived the veteran big man to keep younger options on the roster. It's a tough ending for one of the franchise's longest-tenured players. Rookie Ebuka Okorie is fighting for rotation minutes with the Pistons, with no stats recorded in appearances against Boston and Miami this week. The path to meaningful minutes on a crowded roster remains steep for the former Cardinal.

But make no mistake — this week belonged to the two former Stanford bigs thriving in Los Angeles, on opposite sidelines, in one of the NBA's most-watched city rivalries.

Stanford sent two players into the 2026-27 NBA season with very different injury narratives — one manageable, one alarming — and both will shape how their respective teams look when the calendar flips to opening night.

Ziaire Williams, Lakers: Foot Concern, Starter Upside

The better news first. Ziaire Williams has done enough in Los Angeles to lock down a starting spot alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, and Walker Kessler — assuming his left foot cooperates. The sixth-year forward missed three straight preseason games with the injury, but his lone healthy outing told the whole story: 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, the kind of 3-and-D efficiency the Lakers desperately need flanking a ball-dominant star.

Multiple reports confirmed the Lakers quietly tabbed Williams as their fifth starter, and the fan base didn't need much convincing. He emerged as the runaway fan-favorite for the role, generating genuine buzz in a market that doesn't hand that out lightly. Williams addressed the foot situation publicly ahead of the team's preseason finale against Denver, striking a measured tone — and the Lakers have maintained the injury is not serious.

Still, his absence from three of four preseason games drew scrutiny. The Lakers also had Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton battling ailments simultaneously, prompting some fans to question whether the team was being fully transparent about its injury situation. The medical staff has pushed back on that skepticism, and Williams is expected to be ready for the regular season.

If he is, Stanford fans have a legit starting-caliber player in Hollywood. That's worth monitoring weekly.

Maxime Raynaud, Kings: A Frightening Night in the Bay

The news out of Sacramento is considerably darker. Maxime Raynaud, the Kings' second-year center, suffered a right knee injury during a preseason clash against the Golden State Warriors — bad enough that he was carted off the floor in a wheelchair, a scene that silenced the arena and prompted a public message of support from teammate Ben Simmons.

An MRI revealed a right patellar subluxation. The Kings announced he'll be reevaluated in two weeks, which analysts called the best-case scenario given how the injury initially appeared. He will not be available when Sacramento opens its season.

The timing couldn't be worse. The Kings were already without Dylan Cardwell due to injury, leaving Domantas Sabonis — himself coming back from a stint on the sideline — as Sacramento's only available center entering the year. The Kings open the 2026-27 season against the Los Angeles Clippers with a center rotation of essentially one.

Raynaud had been carving out a role as a reliable backup big, and his absence creates a genuine minutes vacuum Sacramento has no clean answer for. The front office will likely be active on the waiver wire and buyout market in the coming days.

Two Cardinal alumni, two franchise-level subplots before the first real tip-off. Williams is the feel-good story with an asterisk; Raynaud is the cautionary tale that scouts and trainers will be watching closely through his two-week re-evaluation window.