Last season, Dillon Brooks became one of the most talked-about villains in the NBA.
He went from being a solid and overachieving defensive-minded role player to embracing an entirely different persona.
Notably, Brooks’s most infamous moment came at LeBron James’s expense, calling him ‘old’ before getting outplayed by him in the playoffs.
Brooks didn’t even want to address the media after his losses to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Memphis Grizzlies later claimed that they wouldn’t bring him back ‘under any circumstances.’
Fast forward to today, and Brooks still has no love for The King.
That was evident when the now Houston Rocket slapped him in the face after fouling him, getting called for a flagrant one.
James had usually taken the high road when it came to dealing with him, but he was clearly upset after that cheap shot.
Following the game, the 21-year veteran didn’t even want to address him, telling reporters to ask him a different question when asked about Brooks (via The Athletic).
“Next question,” James said.
LeBron James, when asked about Dillon Brooks:
"Next question."
🎥 @jovanbuhapic.twitter.com/hbwcfCCt9p
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 30, 2024
Brooks continues to embrace that villain character; he feeds off it.
That style of play got him a big contract this offseason, so there’s literally no incentive to do anything differently.
Of course, not many people would even dare hit a guy like LeBron James, let alone get on his bad side.
It’ll be interesting to see how LeBron deals with this matchup for the remainder of his career, but what’s clear is that there’s no place for this unsportsmanlike conduct in the league.
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