Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving became the latest NBA stars to draw the ire of Dillon Brooks this season as the Grizzlies guard took swipes at the Mavericks star guards ahead of Saturday’s game in Memphis.
Brooks, fresh off his latest clash with Draymond Green and the Warriors, attempted to stir the pot against a different Western Conference foe after learning of Dončić and Irving’s statuses for the contest. Dallas ruled Dončić out for the contest with a left thigh strain and later listed him as day-to day, while Irving is listed as questionable due to a foot injury and undisclosed personal reasons.
After learning that Dončić would not play in the contest, Brooks seemingly took aim at the four-time All-Star. The sixth-year guard also told reporters he hopes he gets the chance to guard Dončić when the teams meet again later this season after watching him drop 32 points in a blowout Mavs win on Oct. 22. Brooks did not play in that game due to injury.
“It’s goes to show that sometimes they ain’t ready to come back to a physical game,” Brooks said, via Grizzlies beat reporter Damichael Cole.
“I hope Luka gets back for the next game so I can guard him,” he added, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I didn’t get a chance to guard him the first game and he had a great game [Oct. 22 when Brooks was hurt]. So I wanna see where I’m at.”
In regard to Irving, Brooks expressed his eagerness to guard the eight-time All-Star for the entirety of Saturday’s game and watch him “get exhausted” with Dončić out of the lineup.
“Now I can get him by myself today, so I want to see what he’s all about,” he said. “He had a couple of words for me in Brooklyn, so I can’t wait to pick him up full every time and see him get exhausted.”
Irving later issued a response to Brooks’s remarks during his media session, noting he’s all for the trash talk as long as the 27-year-old keeps it on the floor.
“Dillon hopes every best player plays, just because it makes the game a lot better competitive-wise,” Irving said, per MacMahon. “There’s been a lot going on with him, seeing him in the middle of all the Draymond stuff. I mean, it makes it great for our league, but at the same time there’s a maturity that we’ve got to have. Nothing should go over the line of personal stuff. If we keep it still strictly on the floor, I think we all have a greater time, but once it gets personal, I mean, you know what it turns into out there.”
While it’ll be interesting to see how things play out should Irving suit up, Brooks will likely still find a way to stir up some drama given his previous clashes with players around the league this season. And, based on the reactions he’s received from stars like Green and Donovan Mitchell, Brooks has no problem continuing his apparent crusade to fully live up to his “Dillon the Villain” nickname.
Following Saturday’s meeting, the Grizzlies and Mavericks will play again in Dallas on March 15, and one final time in Memphis on March 20.
