Getty Lakers star LeBron James drives against Dillon Brooks.
The feud between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks took a surprising turn as the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s longtime nemesis Skip Bayless is even backing King James. The Fox Sports analyst unloaded on Brooks noting that his comments about James were “so out of bounds” that he now wants the Lakers legend to “destroy” the Grizzlies guard.
“I seethed over this [Brooks’ comments] to the point that I want LeBron to destroy this man,” Bayless detailed on the April 21, 2023 edition of the “Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED.” “It’s so out of bounds, what he did. It’s so uncalled for. It’s so beneath the dignity of one LeBron Ramon James that he can destroy this kid if he so chose to do. But it’s not his way, that’s not how he plays.
“He’s still the best passer in basketball. He still orchestrates. He’s still the point guard for this team and yet, to your point, if he wants to post up at least some of the time early on in the first half, he’ll make him look really bad. Because he was making him look bad in the fourth quarter the other night. He was just too little, too late.”
Dillon Brooks on LeBron James: ‘I Don’t Care, He’s Old’
Classic Dillon Brooks on his confrontation with LeBron James: “I don’t care. He’s old. … I poke bears. I don’t respect someone until he gives me 40.”
And Brooks had plenty more to say.
Bayless has made a career out trolling James, but Brooks appears to have taken things to a new level that even the analyst is uncomfortable with which is a surprising twist considering his own rocky history with the Lakers star. Brooks went viral for calling James “old” while adding that he does not respect any player that has not dropped 40 points on him.
“I don’t care, he’s old,” Brooks told reporters on April 19 when asked about his Game 2 exchange with James. “I was expecting him to do that Game 4 or Game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul. He should have been saying that earlier on.
“I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40. I pride myself on what I do [which is] defense and taking on any challenge that’s on the board.”
Skip Bayless Called Out Dillon Brooks for His ‘Utter, Cold-Hearted Remorseless Disrespect’ of LeBron James
“I want LeBron to DESTROY him.”
— @RealSkipBayless on Dillion Brooks saying LeBron ‘can’t take me 1-on-1’
Brooks has been unable to get much of a reaction from James regarding his Game 2 postgame comments. James cut short his normal media session after being peppered with questions about Brooks’ insulting remarks. Bayless unloaded on Brooks providing a rare occasion where the Fox analyst defended James by describing the Grizzlies wing’s words as “cold-hearted, remorseless disrespect.”
“The audacity of this kid Dillon Brooks who can’t back up any of his words,” Bayless noted. “To do that kind of a number on a truly all-time great player and the greatest scorer in the history of this game. To be that utterly, dismissively disrespectful — I know it’s for clicks.
“I know it’s for being Dillon the villain. I get it. But it came across as just utter, cold-hearted, remorseless disrespect. … The more he spoke, the worse it got.”