Dillon Brooks garnered a lot of attention Wednesday night after the Grizzlies’ 103–93 win over the Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. Not for his 12 points, though, but because he called LeBron James “old” and added, “I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 [points].”
James, 38, finished the game with 28 points and 12 rebounds on 12-for-23 shooting from the field. Brooks added some insult to injury by adding that he would have liked to play against a different version of James.
“He’s not at the same level as he was when he was on Cleveland, when he [was] winning championships in Miami,” Brooks said. “I wish I got to see that. You know what I mean? It would have been a harder task.”
Vintage Villain!!
— Mike Ceide (@MCeide_WREG3) April 20, 2023
Dillon Brooks called out LeBron James before the series started.
He called out LeBron James after the Grizzlies game 2 win.
"He's old. I poke bears. He's not at the same level as he was when he was on Cleveland, Miami- winning championships." pic.twitter.com/iSEw56qTQc
James just finished his 20th season in the NBA averaging 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists. Absurdly enough, James’s numbers are better than his championship-winning years.
During his first championship run with Miami in 2012, he finished the MVP season averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 boards and 6.4 assists per contest. During his second MVP run and NBA title run in 2013, he notched 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. Finally, he put up 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists a night during his NBA title run in Cleveland back in 2016.
There’s no question James is having the best 20th NBA season of anyone in the sport’s history, but it’s apparent Brooks is not impressed. All that’s left is to see how James responds in Game 3 with tip-off scheduled for Saturday at 10 p.m. ET.
