Sky’s the limit for Breakers’ 18-year-old sensation

Parker Jackson-Cartwright says New Zealand Breakers Next Star Karim Lopez is just scratching the surface of his potential.

Back for a second season, the 18-year-old is already in the conversation for a top-10 NBA Draft selection next year.

He lit up the back half of last season with a wave of standout outings, making it clear he’s one of the league’s brightest young talents.

And according to his teammate, Lopez is just getting warmed up.

“He puts in the work and he has a great support system,” Jackson-Cartwright said on NBL Now.

“His dad is with him every day, just in his ear giving him the right amount of support but free rein for him to do things on his own.

“This is a grown man's game. He's in a grown man environment, and it really helped him seeing guys like myself, Sam Mennenga show up every day, work hard … Matt Mooney too.

“I just think being in that environment really helped him grow at a fast rate. You saw from the beginning of the season to the middle and to the end, he just kept getting better and better. So I say sky's the limit for that kid, and I'm really excited to see how he continues to grow.”

Breakers coach Petteri Koponen couldn’t speak highly enough of the rising Mexican talent.

“He started a lot of games for us (last year), and he’s going to start this year as a three for us,” Koponen said.

“He gives us that size, that length and athleticism on the wing and of course, I’m really excited to see him after this summer. Because it’s kind of different to in Europe when you’re together for 10, 11 months. We finished our season in mid-February so it’s a long time, especially for a guy like Karim at his age. He could take huge leaps already if he used that time wisely.”

Lopez sits at number six in ESPN’s 2026 Mock Draft, one of two top-10 talents in the league alongside Dash Daniels.

During the Hungry Jack’s NBL25 Season, he put up 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.

“He puts the work in and he's not afraid to listen. At that age, as you see, the game has changed. He's a sponge and he's not afraid to take coaching and implement it in his game. He keeps coming back every day and he is even keel,” Jackson-Cartwright added.

“He's a silent killer. He doesn't say a lot, but he's tough, he's physical, he wants to get better, and he's coachable. At the end of the day, for a kid that age, that's hard to be.”