MEMPHIS— Lebron James is he nbaAll-time leading scorer, four-time MVP, four-time champion, and 19-time All-Star.
Toward Grizzlies' dillon brooksLeBron is "old."
"I poke bears, I don't respect anybody until they come and give me 40 (points)," Brooks said.
The context of this is that James and Brooks began criticizing each other with 8:06 left in the third quarter of the Grizzlies' 103-93 win over the lakers in Game 2 of this Western Conference playoff series. The Lakers were down 20 at one point, but James was starting to bring them back, and when Brooks was called for his fourth foul, according to Brooks, LeBron told him, "You're dumb for fouling."
And then, when Brooks was asked about the trade after the game, he said things about James that literally no one in the NBA has said in his illustrious career, certainly not in a single session.
“I don't care, it's old,” Brooks said. "I expected him to (trash), Game 4, Game 5."
In no particular order during his eight-minute postgame interview, during which Brooks wore dark sunglasses, jeans and a shirtless vest, the gritty defender and well-known troublemaker had this to say about James:
“It's not at the same level as it was when I was in Cleveland and I was winning championships in Miami. I wish I could see that. I mean, it would have been an increasingly difficult task (to protect him)."
“He is a special player. … These special players, they want to play in space, they don't want to be touched … but when you get to the playoffs and they allow hits and things like that, it wears it down.”
“Just wear it for a seven-game series and see if you can take it, see if you want to play the one-on-one battle or if you want to be on the sidelines.”
James, who is 38 and plays with an injured foot that he said surgery was recommended for, was not asked about Brooks during his postgame interview.
James scored 28 points on 12-of-23 shooting, but was only 1-of-8 from 3-point range. He was 21 on 8-for-16 shooting in the Lakers' Game 1 victory.
Brooks has been the Grizzlies' main defender on James and has looked to bolster the 260-plus-pound, 6-8 scoring machine. Brooks said that “it's going well. I'm trying, without fouling, with little bumps here and there, to tire him out."
As for the argument between them, Brooks said his response to James was, "You finally want to talk."
“And then we started to strike up a conversation,” Brooks continued. “I just let him know that you can't take me one on one. You haven't. Go see the movie. He doesn't really take me one on one until then. Then when he was replaced, he was tired. So I did my job."
Brooks had a chance to clarify one of his statements, that he didn't "respect" James, saying "obviously, I have some respect." It is a legend. He is LeBron James. But you know, when I'm on that floor, you're just another player to me. I don't care who you are. You're only 6-8, 270 pounds. And you are a basketball player.
Brooks also admitted: “I'm creating a name for myself. So you know, I can't look at these guys like 'he's LeBron James.'
Brooks was called on 18 technicals during the regular season, resulting in two one-game suspensions, and was involved in a feud with cleveland's Donovan Mitchell. He said he was booed this season during Grizzlies games in Los Angeles, so he doesn't care about the backlash his comments are likely to cause.
You might want to think about it when it comes to how LeBron reacts. Yes, he's getting old, but James is famous for turning even minor slights into historic vendettas. After Game 4 of the 2016 Finals, when klay thompson Told LeBron the NBA is a "man's league," James responded with back-to-back 41-point games and a triple-double in Game 7 to complete the only comeback from a 3-1 deficit in Finals history. .
“Got it today,” Brooks said. “I have him talking to me. So we'll see in Game 3 if he keeps talking and I'm there for that."
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(Photo: Petre Thomas/USA Today)
