"He's old. You know what I mean? I was waiting for that. I was expecting him to do that Game 4, Game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul. He should've been saying that earlier on. But I poke bears. I don't respect no one until they come and give me 40."
This quote by Dillon Brooks after Game 2 of the 2023 NBA first round matchup of the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers where he was referring to his trash talking with Lakers forward and future Hall of Famer, LeBron James. A comment like that by what people consider a 3 and D wing about a future NBA legend is seen as a career suicide, you are killing everything you worked for just for a quote that you know everyone and their Momma's gonna talk about for the entire summer. This did in fact ended something, it did not end Dillon Brooks but it ended the Memphis Grizzlies who was seen as an up and coming young core with a bright future. As soon as Brooks said what he said, the Grizzlies completely tanked and today's Grizzlies looks a whole lot different to the Grizzlies of 2022 or 2023. Brooks on the other hand, this did not hurt him one bit, it fueled him.
The Ontario native was heading out of college with accolades that every basketball dreamed of having in college with two first team All Pac 12's, Pac 12 All Freshman, two All Americans (consensus second team and third team via Sporting News), and the 2017 Pac 12 Player of the Year. Even with this teams didn't think he would live up to be anything in the NBA which is why he was drafted 45th by the Memphis Grizzlies who just lost Zach Randolph, blowing up their main core of Z-Bo, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol with plans to start off fresh. His rookie season, he showed flashes of what he capable of right off the bat with a 19 point debut breaking a record for Canadian born NBA players. Everything was looking up heading into his second season until he ruptured a ligament in his big toe 18 games into his sophomore campaign. Once his toe healed in time for the 2019-20 season, any chance of him being the star of the Memphis Grizzlies went away with 2018 4th overall pick showed promise to be a star and the Grizzlies using pick two on Murray State Point Guard Ja Morant.
Entering his third season, he started to be molded into his new role as vital starter and main defensive player on the wing and was used as a secondary scorer. Morant was the offensive star, JJJ was the defensive star, Bane was the second option, and Dillon Brooks was the personality. Brooks carried a swagger to him making it known that he will make tonight the worst night possible for you. He constantly took on the toughest assignments possible and would contain them each and every night and earned that All-Defensive second team. He was a known trash talker throughout his time in Memphis, but there was one person he decided to pick a fight that changed his reputation in a matter of seconds.
After Brooks said the infamous quote above, he faced tons of scrutiny with LeBron insisting that he isn't worth going back and forth with (even though it should be noted that LeBron in fact did not score 40 during the series) and Kendrick Perkins going out to say that he wasn't poking a bear, he was just pouring honey on it. Four games later, Memphis wound up and lost the series and ended Brooks career in Memphis. The Grizzlies refused to re-sign him and allowed him to sign wherever he wanted, which they turned it into a sign and trade so they can get Josh Christopher out of it. This was seen as the end of Brooks' peak with many comparing him to Lance Stephenson who famously became a known role player after he blew in LeBron's ear during a playoff game. Nobody thought he would bring anything impactful to a young Rockets squad who was near the bottom of the NBA in standings for the last three seasons, this was seen as a graveyard move where he just comes in just to get paid, get bought out once the Rockets couldn't find a trade suitor, become a journeyman for a few years on a minimum deal, go to Europe, retire.
He then proved the doubters wrong by becoming a vital asset on Ime Udoka's rebuilt team focusing more on defensive vets like him, Fred VanVleet, and Steven Adams to play with Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, but was later thrown into the same situation two years later after the Houston Rockets was ousted in the first round. Everyone pointed fingers and said they need a star to pair with their young squad and continuously him and Green into trade conversations for KD or Giannis until the trade went through and sent him to Phoenix. This is when all the doubters came out and said this was the end of Brooks' career. The Suns coming off missing the playoffs and firing their head coach now trading off one of the best players currently playing and the main focus of the trade for Phoenix were Jalen Green and the tenth pick which turned out to be Khaman Maluach. Brooks was just an add on to a trade that was seen as a rebuild year for the Suns and Brooks would be let go at the end of the season or will be traded during the deadline and become a journeyman for now on once his contract ends.
The 2025-26 season is fixing to start, and Green is out due to injury. The question marks are higher than ever. If Devin Booker is number one, who is number two on this team? There is no way Phoenix is winning 30 games with this team a lot of people predicted. Out of nowhere, Phoenix has found their number two player in Dillon Brooks who stepped into a much bigger role than he has ever been in and was averaging over 20 points per game pretty much all season with questions on whether deserved to be an All Star or not. With him taking a bigger role and for people who haven't watched much this season then a lot of y'all are probably thinking this is a 11 or 12 seed, right? Wrong, they were as high as 4th in the Western Conference and were serious contenders to compete for a deep run in the playoffs. This same kid who was fighting to just get selected by a NBA team, drafted as one of the late picks of the 2017 draft, was told time and time again he was just a 3 and D wing and nothing more, going up against top tier talent and locking them down game after game is now seen as a legit scoring guard in this league and has been considered a top 10 wing this season. He has been doubted time and time and time again and has earned the right to hush the crowd on January 29th when the top Eastern Conference team Detroit Pistons came to town with Devin Booker out and he balled out getting his first 40 point game in a statement win.
I fully believe that January 29th will be the highest of his trajectory and he has fulfilled everything he sat out to accomplish. The same man who asked LeBron James 40 three years later scored 40 to earn the leagues respect. A few weeks later, Brooks broke his hand with no time table for his return now seems like his season (at least regular season) is over and this morning was arrested with suspicion of DUI. Assuming this is the end of the season, Brooks came in as a side piece and made the best of his opportunity when the star player in the trade was hurt and the pick was not quite ready. He was came into this season considered an overrated 3 and D wing and will end the season as a underrated scoring wing.
Hope you enjoy this article as I have been working on this since my last break in November. Was hoping to post this back during the All Star break as a protest article, but feel like it is fitting to post it now. Let me know your thoughts down below on what you think about this article!