Houston Rockets Dillon Brooks gained some more hate from American fans as he had a huge 39-point night for Canada in their thrilling overtime victory over Team USA in the Bronze Medal game at the FIBA World Cup. Brooks hit 7-of-8 shots from deep in the contest as he is looking to change the perception of him in basketball circles following his terrible showing against the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs last year while with Memphis.
Over the past couple of seasons, Brooks has become one of, if not the most hated player in the entire NBA. He has become known as ‘The Villain’ and has embraced that persona in his career. He famously antagonized Lakers superstar LeBron James both prior to and during that playoff series and wound up eating his words. But Brooks also wants it to be known that this villain persona is exactly that, a persona.
Talking after helping Canada win that Bronze Medal, Brooks admitted that he’s grown to love being the villain, but insisted that it’s just a persona, comparing to the Black Mamba persona that Lakers legend Kobe Bryant created for himself many years ago, via HoopsHype:
“It’s just a persona, people love it. I’ve grown to love it myself. It’s just like Kobe Bryant. R.I.P. to Kobe Bryant how he had to figure out how to create a Black Mamba, a different persona when he comes out on the court. So I guess that’s my persona, the villain, just on the court. But I’m a loving, caring guy who loves my kids, love my family, love my teammates.”
Bryant came up with that Black Mamba persona after seeing it in the acclaimed movie Kill Bill. He would look up the predator and find similarities with how the snake acted and how he worked on the court and admitted that it helped him focus when playing during a time when the Lakers legend was going through some serious off-court issues.
Obviously the circumstances surrounding Kobe’s Black Mamba and Dillon Brooks’ Villain are completely different, but the idea of embracing a persona to succeed on the court, while still being a loving family man off of it, is something many can relate to.
Lakers’ LeBron James ready to commit to 2024 Olympics in Paris
Thanks to Brooks playing a part in Team USA failing to medal at the 2023 World Cup, it is already looking like USA Basketball will be bringing all of the stars out for the 2024 Olympics and the man leading the charge is Lakers superstar LeBron James.
LeBron is reportedly ready to commit to one last Olympic run and is already recruiting other top American superstars to play as well including his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis as well as the likes of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard.
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