Dillon Brooks on LeBron James: ‘He's old’
LeBron James, 38, scored 28 points Wednesday night. That didn’t impress Dillon Brooks.
Brooks missed five of his first six shots and finished with 12 points and five fouls. That didn't stop him from staring down James when he finally made a three-pointer, with just under eight minutes to play.
After the game, reporters asked Brooks about the wisdom of getting in James's face, and Brooks remained feisty and unfazed.
"I don't care. He's old," Brooks said. "I poke bears. I don't respect no one until they come and give me 40."
James gave the Grizzlies 37 and 35 points on different occasions last season, but it happened when Brooks was out. Now Brooks is poking the bear and challenging James to go off. Speaking of challenges, Brooks doesn't think guarding "old" LeBron is much of one.
Even when giving respect to James, Brooks snuck in a dig.
"He's a legend. He's LeBron James. But when I'm on that floor, you're just another player to me," said Brooks. "You're just 6'8", you're 270 pounds and you're a basketball player." But James is listed at 250 pounds, so Brooks was definitely implying that James was heavier than normal.
It's an amazing amount of trash talk from Brooks, after he foul trouble limited him to 23 minutes, and he guarded the player who scored the most points in the game. According to the NBA's tracking data, James is shooting 12-19 in the series with Brooks as his primary defender.
But that's the unstoppable confidence of Brooks. It's the bravado that makes a 32.6 percent three-point shooter calmly knock down a dagger three to ice a playoff game.
Brooks is a Grizzly. He's poking bears. And both teams are going to have to bear down for Game 3 on Saturday night.
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