Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks has no regrets about his trash talk aimed at Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Brooks has been hammered with criticism following the Grizzlies’ season-ending loss in Game 6 of their first-round series against the Lakers. He talked a ton of junk to James and Co. but didn’t back it up with his play, averaging just 10.5 points in the series, shooting a miserable 31.2% from the field and 23.8% from 3-point land.
Brooks had avoided talking to the media — and was fined $25,000 for doing so — but broke his silence on the situation on Sunday.
“No, that’s who I am,” Brooks said when asked if he had regrets. “I don’t regret it. I’m a competitor, I compete. I don’t think it got LeBron geeked up.”
And Brooks doesn’t plan on changing his ways any time soon.
“I’m just gonna continue to be me and get better at what I do,” Brooks said.
Dillon Brooks Was Called Out By LeBron James After Series
Brooks took firm aim at James, calling him “old” and generally disrespecting the resume of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
“I don’t care — he’s old. You know what I mean?” Brooks said after the Grizzlies won Game 2 and he got into a brief verbal altercation with James. “I was waiting for that. I was expecting him to do that Game 4, Game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul. He should have been saying that earlier on. But I poke bears.”
Brooks did not feel like those comments gave James extra motivation in the series.
“He’s back in the playoffs, it’s been a little while. So he was ready to play,” Brooks said. “Overall, we just got to be better.”
The rebuttal from Brooks comes a day after James appeared to call him and the rest of the Grizzlies out for their disrespect.
“Unlike you little [expletive] I’m a grown a** man. Big shoes to fill, grown a** pants. Prolly hustled with your pops, go ask your parents. It’s apparent you’re staring at a legend, who put a few little [expletive] in they place before. Trying to eat without saying they grace before!” James tweeted.
Dillon Brooks’ Future With Memphis in Question
GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies were the favored team heading into the series as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference but it quickly became apparent they would have their hands full with the Lakers. It ended with a 40-point loss to LA in Game 6 — the largest postseason loss in franchise history.
The Grizzlies brass alluded to “self-created distractions” on Sunday, which would certainly fit the bill for what happened with Brooks.
“I think there were certainly self-created distractions we were navigating in this series,” Grizzlies general manager and president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman said. “As we’re looking forward and thinking about what comes next, those are all things that we’re going to keep in mind from a competitive standpoint.”
Brooks will be a free agent this offseason and the market for his services will be interesting. He can be a solid defender but his decision-making and offensive efficiency are very questionable.
LeBron James and the Lakers are preparing for the Western Conference semifinals against either the Golden State Warriors or Sacramento Kings.
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Dillon Brooks Fires Back at Lakers Star LeBron James After Callout