Straight off the back of his altercation with Draymond Green, Memphis Grizzlies star Dillon Brooks has already turned his attention to both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in anticipation for their double-header against the Dallas Mavericks.
Brooks is gaining quite the reputation for getting under the skin of his opponents, and against the Golden State Warriors he clashed with Green on the court. But Brooks has already moved on from that, and is now looking to unnerve stars at the Mavericks.
The double-header sees the Grizzlies first face the Mavericks on Saturday before playing them again on Monday night, and Brooks is doing his best to win the psychological battle. He's already mocked Doncic for being injured, and has now sent a warning to Irving.
Doncic was already been ruled out for Saturday's game as he recovers from a quad injury, and it's unknown if he will be fit for the second clash. Brooks used this to his advantage and called out Doncic for not playing, suggesting that he's not strong enough to compete.
"It goes to show that sometimes they ain't ready to come back to a physical game," Brooks said of Doncic. But the Grizzlies star hopes that Doncic is back for Monday's match, as he want to try and mark him out of the game.
"I hope Luka gets back for the next game so I can guard him," Brooks told ESPN. "I didn’t get a chance to guard him the first game and he had a great game. So I wanna see where I’m at.”
Brooks then sent for Irving, with the intention of intimidating the former no.1 pick as he will be all alone out on the court. "Now I get to get him by himself today," Brooks added when speaking about Irving. I want to see what he's all about, so I can't wait to pick him up full every single time and see him get exhausted."
However, Irving didn't retaliate when he was asked about Brooks' comments, and instead questioned his maturity. "Dillon hopes every best player plays, just because it makes the game a lot better competitive-wise," Irving told ESPN.
"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 strictly on the floor, but once it gets, I mean, you know what it turns into out there."
