If there’s one thing Dillon Brooks loves more than a big scoring night, it’s poking at LeBron James. And after Arizona’s Phoenix Suns’ 125-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, he didn’t just poke the bear. He basically walked up, tapped it on the forehead, and said, “Do something.”
Dillon Brooks didn’t hold back when talking about LeBron James after the game, dropping his latest spicy line in what feels like an ongoing, one-sided rivalry. “He likes people who bow down. I don’t bow down. So, that either entices him or it aggravates him, either-or.” That’s vintage Dillon Brooks. The man thrives on smoke the way some players thrive on corner threes.
And yes, the two had a moment, because of course they did. During the third quarter, near the Suns’ bench, LeBron had some words for Brooks, because apparently, 2023 wasn’t enough drama between them. Brooks has basically made “annoying LeBron James” a recurring personal project since LeBron got to L.A. The peak? The 2023 NBA playoffs with the Grizzlies, where Brooks did the whole “I poke bears” routine and called LeBron “old,” only for the Lakers to knock Memphis out in six games. This time felt different, though. Mainly because Brooks didn’t just talk. He delivered.
Dillon Brooks Has Found a Home In Phoenix Arizona
Brooks absolutely cooked the Lakers, dropping 33 points on 15-of-26 shooting. Meanwhile, LeBron finished with just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting. Yes, ten. The same LeBron James who has made a living embarrassing defenders for two decades. To be fair, he missed the Lakers’ first 14 games with sciatica and hasn’t looked like himself since coming back. He’s averaging just 15.2 points per game, which would be the lowest season average of his entire career by a long shot. But still, Dillon Brooks outscoring LeBron by 23? That’s the kind of twist you expect in a soap opera, not in an NBA box score.
And Brooks was feeling every second of it. “I love playing in this arena. They show me a lot of love in here, and I reciprocate it back,” he said afterward. “I’m a competitor, man. I don’t really like the smiling and the giggling and all that, so just letting them know that I’m here. And I’m still rising.” Say what you want about him, but the guy does not lack confidence.
It’s wild to think how quickly Brooks has reinvented himself in Phoenix. After leaving Memphis and spending two seasons in Houston, the 29-year-old seems to have found the perfect fit. He arrived this offseason as part of the blockbuster Kevin Durant trade, and now he’s averaging a career-high 22.3 points per game, along with solid rebounds, threes, assists, and steals. Basically, he’s playing the best basketball of his life while talking the same amount of trash he always has.
What’s Next For This Suns Team?
And he’s not doing it alone. The Suns got 28 huge points from Collin Gillespie on Monday, helping them topple a Lakers team that, despite LeBron’s struggles, has still been one of the best in the West thanks to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves stepping up all season.
The loss dropped L.A. to 15-5, still the second-best record in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Suns have quietly climbed to 13-9 after last year’s disappointing 36-46 finish. They’ve become one of the league’s most surprising success stories, which is not a sentence many expected to say in a season where Brooks is the one leading them in scoring.
But here we are. Dillon Brooks is thriving. The Suns are winning. And LeBron James, of all people, is the one looking human. Brooks said he doesn’t bow down. On Monday night, he didn’t have to. The scoreboard did all the talking for him.
