Dillon Brooks briefly opened up about it with LeBron James on Wednesday night, and he doesn’t think twice about it.
Why?
“I don’t care, he’s old,” he said.
Brooks and James twittered in the second half of the game. Brooks briefly shoved James in the third quarter and then started celebrating in his face when a time-out was called. Brooks then drilled a 3-pointer over James in the fourth quarter and glared at him as they walked back to the other end of the floor.
Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies ended their streak with the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night. (AP/Brandon Dill)
Brooks finished the win with 12 points, shooting 5 of 14 from the field. James, on the other hand, lost a game-high 28 points and had 12 rebounds for the Lakers.
While it’s certainly a bold decision to stare down one of the best players to ever play the game the way Brooks did, he’s more than fine with it. Not only does he feel this is his role, but James has yet to drop 40 points on him.
“I poke bears,” Brooks said. “I don’t respect anyone until they come and give me 40.”
Brooks didn’t stop there either. He said he wanted that he would have had the chance to protect James when he was playing with either the Miami Heat or the Cleveland Cavaliers because “it would have been a tougher job.”
James, despite being 38 and nearing the end of his career, has already racked up five 40-point games this season. He has averaged 28.9 points this season, his fifth-highest total in his 20 seasons in the league.
And after Brooks’ comments, don’t be surprised if he ups the ante at the Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.