CLEVELAND -- New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez is a very good player on a very bad team.

Unfortunately for the second-year pro, his plight is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Lopez’s latest impressive performance came Tuesday, when he collected 23 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in a 104-97 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 7-foot, 265-pounder was the best big man on the court in Cleveland -- an impressive feat going against former All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- but ran out of gas against Andrew Bogut in a 20-point home loss Wednesday to Milwaukee.

“We played tough again and we’ve definitely become more resilient,” Lopez said after the loss to the Cavaliers, which was setback No. 47 in a 4-48 start.

Although there have been times this season where he's been visibly frustrated, he enters the All-Star break eager to participate in the weekend's festivities, including a large role in Saturday's Rookie Challenge, where he'll likely start at center for the Sophomores.

If LeBron James is right, it won't be his last stint in the NBA's midseason showcase.

“The Nets have a lot of talent,” said James, a six-time All-Star in seven pro seasons. “I think Brook Lopez one day will be an All-Star. I don’t see why they are where they are at this point in the season.”

While there is plenty of blame to spread around, it certainly isn’t Lopez’s fault that New Jersey is on pace to finish with the worst record in league history.

The Stanford product is one of just three NBA players to lead his team in scoring (19.0), rebounds (9.1) and blocked shots (1.94), joining Orlando’s Dwight Howard and San Antonio’s Tim Duncan in the elite club.

Lopez also ranks fourth in the league with 17 double-doubles of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, proving that the sophomore jinx is just a myth. He averaged 13.0 points and 8.1 boards last season in earning All-Rookie first-team honors.

“Brook Lopez is a fine young man,” said O’Neal, the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history. “He’s a good center and he plays the game like it should be played, inside and out. I have nothing bad to say about the young man and I wish him well.”

Those words are high praise indeed, seeing as O’Neal isn’t known for complimenting up-and-coming centers. Just ask Howard, who has felt his verbal wrath on several occasions.

When Pro Basketball News relayed O’Neal’s comments to Lopez, he was taken aback and visibly pleased.

“It’s a huge compliment. It gives me a lot of confidence,” Lopez said. “He’s definitely one of the greatest -- if not the most dominant -- centers of the game, so it’s definitely a feather in my cap.

“Every time I go up against him, I take it as a challenge to see where I’m at and try to improve my game. He’s one of the all-time greats, so I take it as a benchmark.”

Lopez scored against O’Neal and Ilgauskas on post-up moves, mid-range jumpers and baby hooks, making 8-of-15 field goal attempts. He also passed for three assists when the Cavaliers sent double-teams, and displayed an innate ability to grab offensive rebounds in traffic.

“Brook Lopez is a heck of a young player,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “You have your hands full with him every time he’s out there.”

The same, however, can’t be said about most of Lopez’s teammates.

Point guard Devin Harris is an upper-tier talent, while power forward Yi Jianlian and shooting guards Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts are somewhat intriguing.

The rest of New Jersey’s roster, though, is a mismatched collection of veterans on the downside and youngsters that haven’t proved they belong in the NBA.

In other words, Lopez should expect to be stuck in the same frustrating situation for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve never been in that situation before, fortunately, so I don’t know what the Nets are going through,” James said. “They just have to keep coming to work every day and doing their best to improve. But this is the NBA, you go up against the best players in the world every night, so it can’t be easy.”

Brian Dulik is a columnist for Pro Basketball News and has covered the NBA since 1996. He can be reached at brisports@hotmail.com