“I don’t bow down”: Brooks relishes boos in Los Angeles while Suns surge past Lakers

Dillon Brooks walked backmost into Crypto.com Arena, heard the boos and went to work. He poured successful 33 points successful the Phoenix Suns’ 125-108 triumph implicit the Los Angeles Lakers, past admitted helium feeds disconnected the noise. “I emotion playing successful this arena,” Brooks said. “They amusement maine a batch of emotion successful here, and I reciprocate it back.”

The hostility goes backmost to the 2023 playoffs, erstwhile helium declared “I poke bears” and called LeBron James “old” aft a Memphis win. That bid ended severely for him, nevertheless the enactment ne'er left. On Monday helium taunted the location assemblage and James passim the night, copying immoderate of LeBron’s trademark celebrations. After a modulation dunk successful the 2nd quarter, helium stared James down and doubly uncorked an exaggerated enarthrosis motion arsenic the jeers rained down.

“I’m a competitor, man. I don’t truly similar the smiling and the giggling and each that, truthful conscionable letting them cognize that I’m here. And I’m inactive rising,” helium said.

Suns travel Brooks’ borderline to drawback Lakers streak

Brooks’ back-and-forth with James deed different highest erstwhile the Lakers prima drifted toward the Suns seat during a third-quarter timeout to jaw astatine him. Brooks, 29, said James has a wide preference. “He likes radical that bow down,” Brooks said. “I don’t bow down. So, that either entices him oregon it aggravates him — either-or.”

Inside the Suns locker room, his borderline is present portion of the team’s identity. “Sometimes, I’m trying to archer him to chill out, but I deliberation helium conscionable blacks out,” constituent defender Collin Gillespie said. “That’s Dillon Brooks. It fuels us.… He’s the tone-setter for us. Consistent energy, brings it each night. He’s fearless. Doesn’t backmost down from anybody, and helium volition spell toe-to-toe with anybody.”

First-year manager Jordan Ott called him “the eventual competitor” and said this gathering “means thing antithetic to him” aft that unsmooth playoff exit. Brooks responded with 23 points successful the archetypal fractional and finished 15-of-26 from the field, pushing his scoring mean to 22.3 points per game.

Phoenix improved to 13-9 contempt losing Devin Booker to a groin strain aft 10 minutes and held James to 10 points, conscionable capable for him to widen his double-digit scoring grounds to 1,297 games. Late successful the blowout, Brooks adjacent tried to backmost down Bronny James, drew a question call, past saw the tv cameras drawback LeBron connected the bench, limb raised, thumb pointed firmly down.