Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks has become arguably the biggest agitator and the most hated player in the NBA today. That has been on display even before the Grizzlies were matched up with the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, and now his target has been LeBron James.
Prior to the Play-In Tournament Brooks said he wanted to be matched up with the Lakers and LeBron in particular, noting his legacy and what it would mean to possibly knock him out of the playoffs. Following Game 2, Brooks added more fuel to the fire by calling James ‘old’ and saying he wouldn’t respect him until he scores 40 points.
As is to be expected, many were looking for a response to Brooks’ comments from LeBron, but following Lakers practice on Friday, the Lakers’ star chose not to, noting that all that matters is what happens on the court, via Lakers reporter Mark Medina:
LeBron James has little to say about Dillon Brooks’ trash talking pic.twitter.com/ZEjOsCBu6Z
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) April 21, 2023
But as reporters continued to push the issue and fish for any sort of response, LeBron would cut his interview session short with one final statement, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
After generally side stepping questions about Dillon Brooks’ comments, LeBron James cut off his media availability with a simple message. pic.twitter.com/yVcWNWf5g4
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 21, 2023
Game 3 is the most important game of the season for the Lakers and statistically, the team that comes out on top in this contest has much greater odds of winning the series overall. James understands this completely and is focused solely on that and ensuring the Lakers get that victory, not engaging in any kind of trash talk with Brooks.
This doesn’t mean that LeBron doesn’t see these things and take them to heart. He could very well be preparing to give Brooks exactly what he is asking for and drop a 40-point explosion in front of the Crypto.com Arena fans. But James won’t give Brooks the satisfaction of going back and forth in the media, instead focusing solely on what will happen in between the lines.
LeBron James calls Lakers Game 3 vs. Grizzlies the most important of the series
James understands how big of a game this is on Saturday night for the Lakers and how important a win is. This is the first full-capacity home playoff game for the Lakers in a decade and LeBron knows the Lakers have to be completely locked in.
LeBron called Game 3 the most important of the series, adding that the Lakers should not be comfortable just because they took a game on the road to start this series. If they aren’t at their best, the Grizzlies could easily come right back and re-take home court advantage.
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