In his exit interview, Dillon Brooks firmly stood by his comments regarding LeBron James and said he has no regrets about them. After game two of the first-round playoff series between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers, Dillon Brooks spoke out about LeBron James. He called the superstar “old” and stated, “I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 [points].”
Brooks and the Grizzlies went on to lose the series in six games. Ironically, the Grizzlies lost game six by 40 points. Initially, Brooks’ comments were seen as comedic, but things changed after Brooks declined to speak to the media after games three and four. His refusal to speak led many to criticize his behavior, but in the exit interview, Brooks defended himself.
LeBron remained quiet for most of the series, but subtely responded on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CroMTEqJP0O/
James seemingly “poked” fun at Brooks’ previous bear comments. Despite the external criticism received, Dillon Brooks does not regret speaking out about LeBron James.
Dillon Brooks Finally Speaks
“No. That’s who I am,” Brooks told reporters Sunday at his team’s exit interviews, two days after the Grizzlies season ended in Los Angeles. “I don’t regret it. I’m a competitor, I compete. I don’t think it got LeBron geeked up. He’s back in the playoffs, it’d been a little while. He was ready to play.”
Throughout the series, he faced challenges and demonstrated poor performance by recording merely 10.5 points with a shooting accuracy of only 31% from the field and 24% from beyond the arc. Brooks, who is due to become an unrestricted free agent, received a penalty of $25,000 for violating the league’s regulations on media interview access.
The Grizzlies’ GM Zach Kleiman avoided directly stating whether Brooks would remain with the team beyond this season, but gave a hint that he might not be. “There were definitely some self-created distractions in the series and along the way. We are going to take a different approach (next season).”
When asked again about Brooks, he said, “I’ll hit on Dillon another day…”
There is no doubt the former Oregon standout is a competitor, but he may have bit off more than he could chew by calling out a superstar like LeBron James.
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