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Memphis’ Dillon Brooks enjoys poking the bear. He did so at least twice Wednesday, getting in Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ face and jawing back and forth with James.
Asked after Memphis’ 103-93 victory why he’s going at James verbally, Brooks responded, “I don’t care, he’s old.”
Brooks, who scored 12 points, added: “I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 (points). I pride myself on what I do on defense and taking any challenge on the board.”
The two players had an exchange in front of the Lakers’ bench after James made a short jumper at the free throw line in the third quarter with the Lakers trailing 66-52.
Brooks said that James told him he was dumb for picking up his fourth foul, which led to Brooks going to the bench early in the third quarter. So Brooks fired back.
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“I let him know that you can’t take me one-on-one. You haven’t,” Brooks said. “You can go look at the film. He doesn’t really take me one-on-one until that moment.”
In the fourth quarter, Brooks made a 3-pointer, giving Memphis an 89-77 lead, then starred face-to-face with James down the court.
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Before the playoffs began, Brooks said, “I wouldn’t mind playing LeBron in a seven-game series. The legacy is there. First time back in the playoffs, knock him out right away. They’ll test us good. They got good pieces, good players. That’ll be a good first-round matchup for us.”
The Grizzlies are a cocky and confident team, with Brooks embracing trash-talk opportunities. He has gotten into it with Golden State’s Draymond Green and was part of the altercation with Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe at a Lakers-Grizzlies game earlier this season in Los Angeles. Brooks called Sharpe a “blogger” and “regular pedestrian.”
“When I’m on that floor, you’re just another player to me,” Brooks said. “I don’t care who you are. You’re just 6-8, 270 pounds and you’re a basketball player.”
Poking James, 38, hasn’t worked for several players. When Klay Thompson and Golden State did that to James in the 2016 NBA Finals, James and Cleveland overcame a 3-1 deficit and won the title.
We will see if Brooks’ plan works.
Contributing: Damichael Cole, Memphis Commercial Appeal
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