Amidst Blusens Monbus’ 82-63 blowout of Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada in Liga Endesa play last night, 39 year-old Bernard “Mister Récord” Hopkins logged one of the season’s more bizarre stat lines. Read his bit of the boxscore: 14 points on 4-of-6 overall shooting and 6-of-7 on FTs; four rebounds; one assist; one steal; five (!) fouls drawn; and a 21 performance index rating. Odder yet, all of the above was done in just under 15 minutes of court time. Weirdest of all, despite doin’ good work, Hop’s +/- stat was minus-7 for the game, making him the sole Blusens player with a mark under +5.
The 21 PIR set the Liga Endesa record as the highest mark ever achieved under 15 minutes and was a personal statistical high since 2008-09.
BallinEurope thus takes the occasion to go over the man’s bio, as did the Liga Endesa official website this morning. ¡But first, the highlights! About 47 seconds worth of Hopkins’ stuff in the Fuenladrada game may be seen here (guess it’s not easy to put together a reel of drawn fouls), while game highlights run below.
After his college ball career with Virginia Commonwealth University, Hopkins played for a season with the Yakima Sun Kings of the old CBA after going as the no. 3 overall pick in that league’s draft. (The CBA draft … the mind still boggles over that one.)
Hopkins was in fact named league MVP for that 1996-97 season; nevertheless, it would be his last in the CBA and US basketball altogether, as Hopkins jumped the puddle to test his fortune in Spain’s ACB.
And fortunes Hopkins has had in his Spanish career, prime among them mostly injury-free longevity: The guy called “uno de los jugadores más carismáticos de la Liga Endesa” has enjoyed turns with CB Gran Canaria, Pamesa Cerámica, Valencia, Tenerife, Valladolid, Bruesa GBC, Lagun Aro and now Blusens Monbus in his 13 seasons in Spain.
A few weeks ago, Hop notched his 6,000th point in Liga Endesa play in a game against Caja Laboral Baskonia. He now ranks seventh on the ACB all-time list in rebounds, 16th in points scored and 24th in minutes played. And Hopkins currently is no. 2 in games played in the Spanish league among foreign-born players, with his 444 just two fewer after today than the still-active Pablo Prigioni of Baskonia.
Leaving Spanish basketball history aside, how does Hopkins fare in knowledge of said history? Wellllllll, let’s say fair. Below is his work taking the Concurso Liga Endesa trivia quiz. Hop performs decently, but how will anyone match Sitapha Savané’s insane performance…?
