Dillon Brooks has brushed off a confrontation with LeBron James after the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs on Wednesday night.
Brooks, who has developed a reputation as a formidable defender and trashtalker, squared up to the 38-year-old in the third quarter of Memphis’ 103-93 home victory. Brooks said after the game that James told him he was “dumb” for picking up a fourth foul.
“I don’t care – he’s old. You know what I mean?” Brooks said of 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. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.”
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.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 20, 2023
And Brooks had plenty more to say. pic.twitter.com/uWLONrubPZ
James has won 10 of the 13 games he has played against the Canadian but has never scored more than 34 points in those contests.
The first-round playoff series is tied at 1-1 after Wednesday’s game, and Brooks said he would welcome another run-in with James.
“I said, ‘Oh, finally you want to talk,’” Brooks said. “Then we started to get into a conversation. I just let him know that, ‘You can’t take me one-on-one. You haven’t.’ You go look at the film; he doesn’t really take me one-on-one until that moment. Then when he got subbed out, he was tired. So I did my job.”
Brooks admitted the 19-time All-Star is a “legend” but believes James is past his prime.
“He’s not at the same level that he was when he was on Cleveland winning championships, Miami,” Brooks said. “I wish I got to see that. It would have been a harder task, but I’m playing with what I’ve got. Just wear and tear on him throughout a seven-game series and see if he can take it. See if he wants to play the one-on-one battle or if he wants to be out on the sidelines shooting the basketball.”
James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists this regular season. The young Grizzlies have developed a reputation as one of the spikiest teams in the league. Their star player, Ja Morant, was suspended after a series of off-court incidents and is currently injured.
