LOS ANGELES – After showing he was not afraid to poke the bear, Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks demonstrated that he also isn’t afraid to attack LeBron James midsection.
Three days after dismissing the Los Angeles Lakers’ 38-year-old star as “old” and claiming he doesn’t respect anyone “until they come and give me 40” points,” Brooks then hit James in the groin area during the Grizzlies’ 111-101 loss to the Lakers on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
Only 17 seconds into the second half, Brooks nailed James’ groin with his left arm while chasing a loose ball. James immediately went down on the floor in the pain. After an official review, Brooks then received a flagrant foul 2 and an automatic ejection.
“I’m good,” Brooks said in an arena hallway afterwards before declining to speak more. He walked past a group of reporters without breaking stride.
Time will tell whether the NBA stops Brooks in his tracks for when the Lakers (2-1) host Game 4 against Memphis in Los Angeles on Monday (10 pm ET, TNT).
The NBA suspended Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green after receiving a flagrant foul 2 and subsequent ejection last week for stepping on Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis. Green acted that way after Sabonis grabbed his right ankle in Game 2 of the Warriors-Kings first-round series. The NBA added that the suspension was “based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.” But in Game 3 of the Philadelphia 76ers-Brookln Nets first-round series, Sixers guard James Harden was not suspended after he was ejected with a flagrant foul 2 for hitting Brooklyn Nets forward Royce O’Neale in the groin with his off hand while dribbling. As for Brooks, he had received a one-game suspension for collecting 18 technical fouls this season.
“With how they treat Dillon, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he is,” Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said. “I felt he was ejected because of past ejections that were made in games before. If you look at the play, he was reaching for the ball but LeBron went behind his back. Obviously, he got hit somewhere where it’s tough for a man. Flagrant 1, ok. But ejection? I don’t agree with it at all.”
LeBron James silent on Dillon Brooks’ antics
James had refused to acknowledge Brooks’ trash talk after Game 2. James took the same response about Brooks’ foul, his trash talk and if he should receive a suspension in Game 4.
“I’m not part of the committee,” James said. “If he’s in the lineup or out of the lineup, we have to prepare no matter what.”
Regardless, that ugly sequence marked the end of an eventful atmosphere that Brooks experienced.
The 18,997 fans booed him any time he touched the ball. The fans jeered him any time he missed the shot. And the fans heckled him after he attacked James’ midsection.
Brooks failed to back up his boastful words with a respectable performance after finishing with seven points while shooting 3-for-13 from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range in 19 minutes. Most importantly, the Lakers hurled the final rebuttal with a 2-1 series lead.
You can’t help but wonder if all of these developments at least partly stemmed from Brooks trying to take aim at the King and missing.
“We’ve been getting booed all season. I don’t think that bothered him at all,” Morant said. “He actually embraces that and loves that. It gives him fuel. A lot of these teams, as much as they don’t like him, they would love to have him on their team with the energy he brings and what he brings to the table.”
In fairness, James downplayed the significance of Brooks’ insults. Beforehand, James argued that “the game is won in between the four lines” as opposed to any trash talking that takes place on the court or in interviews. James finished with 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting along with nine rebounds and five assists, a respectable line but far short of the 40 points Brooks stated arbitrarily a player must post to earn his respect.
“No statement was made,” James said. “We just wanted to play well and get a win.”
Still, the Lakers’ actions and the fan atmosphere proved otherwise. The Lakers played with fiery passion on almost every possession with crisp ball movement and disciplined defensive rotations. The sell-out crowd cheered wildly over every Lakers basket and booed loudly over any Grizzlies miscue.
That reached the highest level when Brooks hit James in the family jewels. After Brooks was ejected, some Lakers fans shouted at him louder while others waved him goodbye.
“It looked like it was incidental contact,” Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane said. “Dillon is a physical defender. It looked like from live action that LeBron made a crossover move and Dillon took a stab at the ball and actually caught him in the wrong position.”
Granted, the Lakers have ramped up their intensity in the playoffs. They also played before their first playoff game before a sell-out crowd since 2013 amid a six-year playoff drought (2014-2019), pandemic-related restrictions (2020-21) and another missed post-season appearance (2022).
Nonetheless, Brooks’ presence brought out the best in the Lakers’ play and the best out of their fans.
The festive atmosphere took place well before tipoff. Lakers fans booed Brooks during his pre-game warmup about an hour before the game. They stayed silent anytime Brooks made a shot. They erupted with cheers any time Brooks missed. They increased their volume level when James took the floor and walked past Brooks before completing his own workout on the other side of the court. During starting lineup introductions, Lakers fans reserved their loudest boos for when Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter announced Brooks’ name last.
More fireworks took place during the game. On the first play, James drove past Brooks and made a floater. They jeered at Brooks when he missed his first shot with 9:32 left in the first quarter and then mocked him when his second shot went over the basket. One Lakers fan yelled out, “Keep shooting!” Brooks later hit the side of the backboard.
Lakers bury Grizzlies with early scoring blitz
In related news, the Lakers stormed out to a 35-9 first-quarter lead. The Grizzlies shot 3-for-25 from the field. Brooks went scoreless while missing his first four shots, including three from deep. And the Lakers dominated the Grizzlies in points in the paint (22-4) and rebounds (20-12) while forcing six turnovers.
“All of us were missing shots,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We got great looks. We’re all putting the work in. he’s putting the work in. he made them last game. Tonight they just didn’t fall for them.”
Brooks made two redeeming plays. After guarding James in a pick-and-roll, Brooks deflected a pass to Troy Brown Jr. that ended with a shot-clock violation early in the second quarter. Later in that period, Brooks defended James in the post and swatted the ball off of him before it went out-of-bounds.
Otherwise, Brooks failed to back up his trash talk with his play. He shrunk with his performance. He then ended it early after hitting James’ groin.
“We need him out there the whole game,” Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard said. “It was a tough play after what happened when we looked at it.”
Memphis’ loss didn’t fall just on Brooks, obviously.
The Grizzlies had recorded as many turnovers (18) as assists (23). Despite Memphis guard Ja Morant scoring 45 points after missing Game 2 with a sore right hand, the Grizzlies shot only 37.6% from the field. And Memphis allowed the Lakers to post 58 points in the paint.
But it is fair to wonder if Brooks’ confrontational play and subsequent trash talking has done more harm than good.
He rubbed the Warriors the wrong way during last year’s playoffs when he committed a flagrant foul 2 on Gary Payton II while he was in midair, a play that sent him crashing to the ground and sidelined him for about a month. Although he expressed regret that he injured Payton, Brooks refused to publicly or privately apologize to him about it. Not surprising then that Warriors guard Klay Thompson taunted Brooks during a regular-season matchup after making a shot over him before he fell to the ground.
Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell accused Brooks of intentionally hurting him after hit him in his private area after he missed layup and fell on the ground. Brooks publicly denigrated Warriors forward Draymond Green. In an interview with ESPN, Brooks said, “His game is cool — with Golden State — but if you put him anywhere else, you’re not going to know who Draymond is.”
“You can take it how you want,” Kennard said. “We stay on our side. We handled things on this side with everybody here. We’re not worried about how they handle stuff like that. But the definitely came out with more fire and energy tonight. It’s something we needed to match and we didn’t.”
Mark Medina is an NBA Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.