Suns' Dillon Brooks makes technical foul history

Since his offseason trade to the Phoenix Suns, Dillon Brooks is putting up the biggest numbers of his career. That includes technical fouls.

Brooks made history Thursday when he became only the second player to reach 16 technical fouls before the All-Star break, after DeMarcus Cousins in 2017. That will extend his break, as he'll serve the mandatory one-game suspension when the Suns return Feb. 19 — 11 days later than Cousins' historically early one-game suspension.

Dillon Brooks is a perennial technical foul leader

Brooks reached the 16-tech mark in 49 games, which puts him on pace to finish the season with 25 technical fouls. He's three technicals ahead of second-place Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers. Brooks is four technicals ahead of Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons, but Stewart has two ejections to Brooks' one and also received a seven-game suspension for fighting.

In addition, Brooks is second in the NBA with four flagrant fouls, tied with Desmond Bane of the Orlando Magic, trailing only Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves. To put the Brooks' epic season in context, he has five more technical fouls and one more flagrant than Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, a man who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of technical fouls.

It's nothing new for Brooks. He trailed only Anthony Edwards with 16 technicals last season, earning a one-game suspension then as well. Edwards and Brooks tied for the league lead with 15 in 2023-24, one year after Brooks out-complained Green to an 18-17 victory, which led to two Brooks suspensions.

His most impressive effort may have come in 2021-22. That's when Brooks managed to amass 12 technical fouls in only 32 games, along with an ejection and a flagrant. That's approaching the historic heights of Rasheed Wallace, who picked up 41 techs in the 2000-01 season — before excessive technicals equaled automatic suspensions.

Dillon Brooks is better at everything, yet fouling more

Brooks has perhaps the most prominent role of his career with the Suns, who got him and Jalen Green in the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. He's averaging 21.2 points on a career-high 17.6 shots per game, of which he's making a career-high 44.1 percent.

Yet his recklessness has cost his team. Amid his biggest offensive season, Brooks has made some of the most boneheaded plays of his storied technical-laden career.