Dave McMenaminESPN Staff Writer November 8, 2023, 3:31 PM ET3 minutes read
Dillon Brooks on guarding LeBron: ‘Ready to lock him up’
Dillon Brooks explains how he plans to tire out LeBron James in the Rockets-Lakers game.
HOUSTON – Dillon Brooks may have made a heel turn in the playoff series between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers to make a nice win with the Houston Rockets this summer, but his postseason nemesis, LeBron James, says Brooks has earned every penny.
“I think that every player that gets a contract is given for a reason and that he deserves the contract that he gets,” James said Wednesday when asked if Brooks could have increased his market value , by presenting himself as a star of the Lakers.
“So I think in his case he deserved the contract he got. He’s done the work since he came from Oregon, and Houston has found value in that, and he’s here. So no, I think that has nothing to do with that.”
Brooks signed a four-year, $80 million contract to join a new-look Houston team that also added coach Ime Udoka and veteran guard Fred VanVleet to join a young, talented core of Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun.
Brooks infamously called James “old” during the Grizzlies’ first-round matchup against the Lakers and ended up making a terrible impression as both an analyst and a contributor, averaging 10.5 points on 31.2% shooting (23.8% from of 3-point range) and 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in six games. James, meanwhile, averaged 22.2 points on 48.6% shooting, along with 11.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists, leading the seventh-seeded Lakers to an upset of the second-seeded Grizzlies.
Brooks welcomed the duel when asked about James and the Lakers on Tuesday – and offered no slander this time.
“Ready to lock him up,” Brooks said. “He shoots the ball well. He played well. So I’m just there to tire him out and make sure he gets there early in the fourth quarter.”
James said he wouldn’t think too much about playoff history when Brooks starts Wednesday night. Los Angeles has other problems after losing the first two games of its four-game road trip and is 0-4 on the road at Crypto.com Arena this season.
“I think just the competition alone,” James said. “It’s always great to go out and compete, so he’s one of those guys that enjoys competing along with a lot of the other guys in our league.”
“But I don’t really dwell on the past too much. … As the years go by, I kind of leave that in the past and find a way to do it [think about]: “How can we get our first away win?” That’s definitely my attitude.”