Dillon Brooks apparently didn’t learn his lesson the first six times around.
Brooks and his new team, the Houston Rockets, will be facing off against LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers on Wednesday. When asked about the matchup after practice Tuesday, Brooks decided to lob more trash talk at The King.
“Ready to lock him up,” said Brooks of James, per Rockets writer Lachard Binkley. “He’s been shooting the ball well, been playing well. So I’m just there to make him tired, make him get into that fourth quarter early.”
Here is the full clip of Brooks’ remarks.
Dillon Brooks on his matchup with LeBron
“Ready to lock him up” pic.twitter.com/YnNNUMZWk5
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) November 7, 2023
Of course, that is some high comedy from Brooks given how poorly things went for him the last time that he tried to come at James. Brooks, who was then with the Memphis Grizzlies, made some very disrespectful comments about James in their first-round playoff series last year. But it was Brooks who ended up with raw egg on his forehead as James and the Lakers upset the Grizzlies in six games (and helped hasten Brooks’ ultimate departure from Memphis).
That being said, this is just who Brooks is — a cartoonish villain who will still be running his mouth even if he is boarding a plane to Cancun. The Rockets’ decent start to the season (riding an active three-game win streak as Brooks averages 16.3 points per game on hardly-believable 56.5 percent three-point shooting) has certainly helped his confidence too. Brooks has produced other cocky quotes in recent weeks as a Rocket and clearly still isn’t afraid of poking LeBear.
