MEMPHIS — LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a four-time MVP, a four-time champion and a 19-time All-Star.
To the Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks, LeBron is “old.”
“I poke bears — I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 (points),” Brooks said.
The context for this is James and Brooks began jawing at each other with 8:06 left in the third quarter of the Grizzlies’ 103-93 win over the Lakers in Game 2 of this Western Conference playoff series. The Lakers were down 20 at one point, but James was beginning to bring them back, and when Brooks was whistled for his fourth foul, according to Brooks, LeBron said to him: “You’re dumb for getting that foul.”
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And then when Brooks was asked about the exchange after the game, he said things about James that literally no one in the NBA has said in his illustrious career, certainly not in one sitting.
“I don’t care — he’s old,” Brooks said. “I was expecting him to (talk trash), Game 4, Game 5.”
In no particular order during his eight-minute postgame interview, during which Brooks wore dark sunglasses, jeans and a vest with no shirt, the gritty defender and known trouble starter said the following about James:
“He’s not at the same level as he was when he was in Cleveland and winning championships in Miami. I wish I got to see that. I mean, it would have been a harder, harder task (to guard him).”
“He’s a special player. … These special players, they want to play in space, they want to not be touched … but when you get to the playoffs and bumps are allowed and stuff like that, it wears on him.”
“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 sideline.”
James, who is 38 and playing on an injured foot that he said was recommended for surgery, was not asked about Brooks during his postgame interview.
James scored 28 points on 12-of-23 shooting, but was just 1-of-8 from 3-point range. He scored 21 on 8-of-16 shooting in the Lakers’ Game 1 win.
Brooks has been the Grizzlies’ primary defender on James and has sought to body up the 6-8, 260-plus pound scoring machine. Brooks said “it’s going well. I’m trying to, with not fouling, with little bumps here and there, get him tired.”
As for the jawing between them, Brooks said his response to James was, “Finally you want to talk.”
“And then we started getting into a conversation,” Brooks continued. “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.”
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Brooks was given a chance to clarify one of his statements — that he didn’t “respect” James — and he said “obviously I have some respect. He’s a legend. He’s LeBron James. But you know, when I’m on that floor, you’re just another player to me. I don’t care who you are. You’re just 6-8, 270 pounds. And you’re a basketball player.”
Brooks also admitted, “I’m creating a name for myself. So you know, I can’t be looking at these guys like ‘he’s LeBron James.’”
Brooks was assessed 18 technicals during the regular season, which meant two one-game suspensions, and he was involved in a fight with Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell. He said he was booed this season during the Grizzlies’ games in Los Angeles, so he doesn’t care about the reaction his comments are sure to cause.
He might want to think it over when it comes to how LeBron reacts. Yes, he’s getting older, but James has famously turned even small slights into historic vendettas. After Game 4 of the 2016 finals, when Klay Thompson said to LeBron that the NBA is a “man’s league,” James responded with back-to-back 41-point games and a triple-double in Game 7 to complete the only comeback from a 3-1 deficit in finals history.
“I got him today,” Brooks said. “I got him talking to me. So we’ll see in Game 3 if he keeps talking and I’m there for it.”
Required reading
- Dillon Brooks, ‘basketball monk,’ has never been afraid to be the bad guy
- Grizzlies take Game 2, even series vs. Lakers without Ja Morant
- With Grizzlies missing Ja Morant, Lakers’ sluggish start costs them golden opportunity
- The Athletic has launched a new narrative podcast series, “A King’s Reign”, which takes a look inside LeBron’s legacy. The series is out now.
(Photo: Petre Thomas / USA Today)
