Dillon Brooks has gotten the playoff matchup that he wanted, and he isn’t about to miss a second of it.
Brooks and the Houston Rockets are officially set to play the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. The matchup was locked in earlier this week when the Warriors secured the No. 7 seed in the play-in tournament, paving the way for them to face the No. 2 seed Rockets.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Brooks was asked about how many ejections would take place in what is sure to be a bitter and physical series against the Warriors. Brooks replied by promising that he himself would not be getting ejected.
“I don’t know,” said Brooks, per Jackson Gatlin of Locked On Rockets. “I’m not gonna get ejected. I’ll leave that to somebody else.”
Brooks has plenty of history with the Warriors, even dating back to his time as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. He had an acrimonious playoff series against them in 2022, which Golden State won in six games amid multiple hostilities (the biggest of which was a controversial Brooks foul against Warriors guard Gary Payton II for which Brooks was ejected). On top of that, Brooks and Warriors star Draymond Green especially loathe one another, trading multiple public barbs over the years.
It may be tough for Brooks, one of the NBA’s top agitators, to avoid getting sucked into the matchup against the Warriors. The Rockets and the Warriors already got very heated during their previous regular season meeting, and Brooks has a tendency to get carried away (having just been ejected from a game a couple weeks ago). But at least for now, Brooks is promising that he won’t be the one getting tossed from this year’s Houston-Golden State series.
