Suns' Dillon Brooks gets his revenge on LeBron James

The last time the Los Angeles Lakers played the Phoenix Suns, Dillon Brooks didn't like some of the foul calls and no-calls on LeBron James late in the Suns' loss. On Tuesday night, he outscored James in a blowout 132-108 win.

Brooks scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting in a game where the Suns pulled ahead by 21 points early in the third quarter. The Suns shot 59 percent from the field, and even though James still got to the foul line, missed calls don't matter when a team isn't missing any shots.

Dillon Brooks bounced back with a high-scoring game

Brooks didn't have a great week. In the Suns' loss to the Lakers, he got ejected in the game's final minute for yelling at James, after thinking James fouled him on his game-tying three-pointer with 13 seconds to go. (The NBA ruled that Brooks initiated the contact by "extending his leg towards James.") The Lakers got two shots and the ball, and James got three free throws on a foul from Devin Booker (that the NBA also ruled correct).

On Dec. 18, Brooks committed a flagrant foul on Stephen Curry, giving the Warriors two free throws and the ball. After a Jimmy Butler three-pointer, the Warriors tied the game with their five-point possession, though Phoenix held on to win, 99-98.

But while Brooks has gotten in some trouble with the officials, he's also gotten the ball into the basket. A lot. He's scoring 21.8 points per game, which is the highest total of his career by over three points per game. Not only that, he's been a huge part of resetting the Suns' team culture after a miserable 2024-25 season led to them missing the playoffs and then trading Kevin Durant and waiving Bradley Beal.

Beating LeBron James has to be extra sweet for Dillon Brooks

Brooks and James have had a mostly one-sided rivalry since the 2023 playoffs. After one Lakers win, Brooks dismissed James' performance, then got ejected from the next game for hitting James below the belt.

Look, Brooks is never going to be considered in the same class as James, but it should be to his credit that he aspires for them to be considered equals. While Brooks can't stop committing technical and flagrant fouls, every team that adds him tends to improve. The Grizzlies had the most wins in franchise history with Brooks in the starting lineup, finishing second in the Western Conference twice. After Brooks signed with the Houston Rockets, they were second in the West by his second season.

The difference from Brooks' Memphis days is that he's turned himself into a more efficient scorer. He's shooting 46.4 percent from the field, the top mark of his career, while getting to the line for 3.9 foul shots per game. He can be a defensive stopper when his team needs him to, but on a Suns team that lost Durant and Beal and hasn't had Jalen Green most of the season, Brooks is providing the missing scoring punch.

He scored exactly two more points than James Tuesday night, thanks to James missing five of his 11 free throws. Brooks is prepared to do whatever it takes to win, but it's just a little sweeter to get those wins against James.