It is no secret that Memphis Grizzlies’ swingman Dillon Brooks is the NBA’s most hated player at the moment. Back in February, the former Oregon Duck was dealt with a suspension without pay, after he was involved in an altercation with Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell during a matchup. However, this did not stop him from getting into controversies with players from other teams since he came back and resumed play after the penalisation. In last night’s game against the Golden State Warriors at FedExForum, the Grizzlies guard once again got chippy with several members of the visiting team, including two-time MVP Stephen Curry and former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green.
Brooks Got the Last Laugh
Memphis put on a stellar performance at the offensive end in the game, especially in the opening 12 minutes, by scoring almost half a decade of points. Their 20-point healthy lead gained in the first quarter was enough to prevent Curry’s Warriors from coming back into the game, with the third seed of the Western Conference now snapped its losing streak. What is more impressive is that Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors without their All-Star point guard Ja Morant, as the player is undergoing investigation after he was seen in an Instagram video brandishing a gun.
But considering what had happened in the past few days, the matter that stole the headlines for this game is the brawl moment between Brooks and Green. The standoff happened when the four-time champion Green shoved his elbow towards Brooks, after the latter drove over to score a layup. The 27-year-old player also tried to trash talk Stephen Curry in the second half, in which the all-time leading three-point scorer responded with an and-one. These acts certainly did not help silencing Brooks, as his team won the game eventually.
During the post-match interview, both Brooks and Green did not hide their dissatisfaction over each other and continued to have their ugly war on Twitter, with the latter stating that Memphis will not win the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, should they rely on someone like Brooks, who is on a low field goal percentage as a shooting guard. Brooks then responded by saying the former Defensive Player of the Year would not have achieved anything if he is not with the Warriors.
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What Do Former Players Had to Say?
During the Inside the NBA show, former Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O’Neal highlighted that he likes the beef between Dillon Brooks and Draymond Green as it ignites the rivalry between teams just like old days. Shaq’s former rival and now good friend Charles Barkley echoed the former’s sentiment about the Brooks-Green situation. His statement went “Sports are about competition. All this hugging and kissing that are going on after games, that is just annoying to me. I want to look across from another guy and say: “Hey, I am going to kick your *expletive* and then you can do about it.” I am here for all the smoke”.
Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors are sitting at third and sixth in the Western Conference at the moment. Should this be their final standings, then we are looking at a possible play-off match-up between the two, which will be one of the most talked-about fixtures in the first round of this year’s season ending play-off.
NBA legend Pau Gasol recently had his no. 16 jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the 12th member from the team to have his jersey being hung in the rafters, alongside Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, etc.
