Deborah Ledford used a simple philosophy as she navigated the complex task of raising four boys as a single working mother in Fresno, Calif.
"You don't worry about the dirt in the corners," Ledford said by phone.
As long as the clothes and dishes were clean, and ample food fueled the growing Lopez boys, it allowed the household to pursue the artistic and athletic endeavors that Ledford and her parents found most important.
Robin and Brook Lopez squared off Tuesday night for the 17th time as NBA players and first with Brook as a Laker in Los Angeles, where Ledford gave birth to her twins before her divorce. The twins will engage in their typical habit of not speaking to each other during the game and probably good-naturedly dissing each other before or after.
That behavior will belie a friendship that features them talking every day — often, too, with older brothers Alex and Chris — and formed as Ledford and her parents created a creative world where their varied interests could flourish.
Both Brook and Robin are unabashed Disney and Star Wars fans. They go to comic book conventions and movie premieres. Brook writes. Robin sketches. They're both obsessive readers.
It's no surprise, really.
A swimmer competitive enough to try out for the 1968 U.S. Olympic team in the days before Title IX, Ledford studied history and anthropology at Stanford before settling on a German major with a math minor. She later secured a teaching degree and taught high school math in Fresno for years.
Her parents, Bob and Inky Ledford, were teachers and athletes. Bob played basketball in the old industrial leagues of the 1940s, while Inky was a gymnast who taught the sport for years at a time when women's athletic opportunities were even sparser. Their parents were a librarian and a small-town newspaper publisher.
"It just seemed natural for us to have a wide breadth of interests," Robin said. "The influences I had were all people with versatile interests who had a large world view."
When Ledford moved her brood to Fresno with the twins entering third grade, she left all TVs behind.
"I wanted them playing outside, reading books and writing stories, building Legos and being creative with their minds," she said.
When Ledford dropped the twins off at her parents, they'd find spare bedrooms magically transformed into "The Children's Room" and "The Native American Room." The former had an astonishing library of roughly 9,000 books culled from Inky's acquisitions from thrift and antique stores, complete with first editions and every Caldecott award winner. Ledford catalogued the collection after Inky's passing a little more than a decade ago.
"I felt like there was something for us to explore in every corner," Robin said. "Especially in regards to the books, they were tucked away in every conceivable nook and cranny. She had shelves on all four walls going from floor to ceiling and even shelves in the closets. She also had a lot of pieces of Native American art and a bunch of old-school antique toys, puppets and marionettes, stuffed animals. There was so much cool stuff."
In "The Childrens' Room," Robin and Brook would sit on the couch, bed or maybe in the rocking chair and read anything by Lewis Carroll of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" fame or the Land of Oz books.
"L. Frank Baum is a genius," Robin said of the author who wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and its sequels.
Drawn mostly to fairy tales, Robin to this day loves visiting London because it feels magical to him.
Throughout the twins' youth, the Lopez family visited museums and historical places. It's no wonder that both boys developed an appreciation for Walt Disney.
"Disneyland was always their favorite place to go," Ledford said. "They would sit in the back of the car when they were 8, 10, 12 years old and plot the trip. They would have the rides down to a T: 'OK, so we arrive at 8 o' clock. First, we're going on this ride at 8:05. Then we're going on that ride at 8:18. Then it will be this ride at 8:45.'
"And it went beyond Disneyland. They really liked the vision Walt Disney had and the quality of his artwork. That always interested them."
Throughout it all, including musical instrument lessons and acting in plays and musicals in high school, a love for sports bloomed as well. Volleyball, cross country and water polo eventually gave way fully to basketball.
The two hoops in the driveway eventually became one because the other broke. The teams were mostly always Alex and Brook versus Chris and Robin.
"But there wasn't so much competition within the family," Ledford said. "What we had more was support."
Indeed, Robin and Brook would tote notebooks along for writing and drawing along as Alex — 12 years their senior — transferred from Washington to Santa Clara on his basketball scholarship or Chris went to his practices. The older brothers stand 6-10 and 6-7.
"Now it's the reverse. The older brothers are supporting them," the 6-foot Ledford said, laughing, of Alex and Chris following the NBA.
The NBA is full of charter jets and four-star hotels. It's a long way from the long drives Ledford remembers her parents Bob and Inky making all over California to her various swim meets during her youth.
"I once said to my Dad, 'I could never repay you for what you've done for me,' " Ledford said. "He said, 'You're not supposed to. You're just supposed to pass it on. Do the same for your kids.' "
So Ledford did — without fail and without complaint.
"She sacrificed a lot for us. She was a wonderful role model for us," Robin said. "She's probably the most intelligent person I know. And what's really cool for me is I have a lot of friends who will tell me, 'I was in your Mom's math class. I loved having her as a teacher.' That's really special for me."
Quincy Pondexter has known the Lopez twins since elementary school and later played AAU and high school ball with them. He never had Ledford as a teacher but said his first memory is going to their house and not seeing a TV, just a ton of books and Brook and Robin "always reading or drawing."
"Man, I love everything about them because they're genuine people. They haven't changed at all," Pondexter said. "They're unique and creative, qualities that really make you gravitate towards them. They know how to draw. They know about art. They know everything about Disney.
"And their mother was very, very hands on in the most positive way ever. She was everywhere."
She still is.
The twins' success has allowed her to retire from teaching. But she's forever busy, pursuing her love of travel and genealogy and languages. She also possesses a solid enough knowledge of NBA trends to know her dream lineup of Robin at center and Brook at power forward that Trent Johnson used when the twins followed her to Stanford wouldn't fly in today's league.
"That lineup with a good point guard who loves to pass would be an outstanding team," she said, laughing.
It's tough for Ledford to watch Robin and Brook — now in their 10th NBA seasons — square off because one will win and one will lose, and they play the same position. For the record, Robin's teams are 9-7 in head-to-head matchups.
"Doing well is usually at the expense of the other," she said. "One dunks on the other."
But when the game is over, and their dialogue resumes. Perspective returns.
"They're both very unselfish players," Ledford said. "They understand the game, the angles. They know how to help defensively. They cooperate with their coaches and teammates. It's all about the team first.
"It's most important to me that they're well-rounded, kind people who have time for others. I've always wanted them to be grounded and humble. And they are."
When especially Robin first started playing basketball, Ledford said he realized everyone most wanted to shoot.
"He thought, 'I'll just do the dirty work and help everybody else,' " Ledford said. "He's still doing the same thing. He's making his teammates better. Everybody he has played with — Anthony Davis, LaMarcus (Aldridge), Melo (Carmelo Anthony) — loves playing with him."
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