The Los Angeles Lakers visited the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in a “make-up” game after both teams lost in the quarterfinal round of the Emirates NBA Cup on Wednesday. That meant another matchup between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks, the Suns forward who has always tried to brand himself as a villain of James.
Several times during Sunday’s game, the two got involved in some extracurricular activities, and the most notable incident came toward the end of the game. After the Lakers had built a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, Phoenix fought back frantically, and Brooks’ 3-pointer with 12.2 seconds left brought it all the way back and gave it a 114-113 lead.
But Brooks bumped James right after that basket and was given a technical foul, which was his second of the game and resulted in his ejection. James was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and hit two of the three resulting free throws, allowing Los Angeles to escape with a 116-114 victory.
After the game, James gave a measured response when asked about the nature of his competition against Brooks.
“He’s going to compete. I’m going to compete. We’re going to get up in each other’s face. Tried not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we just competed. And did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”
The animosity Brooks has created between himself and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer dates back to the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs when he was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. During that series against the Lakers, he got into multiple incidents with James and got ejected early in the third quarter of Game 3 after committing a flagrant 2 foul on James. Following Game 2 of that matchup, he publicly called the future Hall of Famer “old.”
It’s one thing for an athlete to try to be, to borrow a term from professional wrestling, a heel. But oftentimes, such an effort sabotages his own team, and that has often been true for Brooks, whether his target has been James or a man on another NBA team.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on incidents between him and Dillon Brooks on Sunday
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