


Dillon Brooks can dish it out but he can’t take it.
Brooks, who was especially brash early in the series, was nowhere to be seen in the postgame after the Lakers walloped the Grizzlies 125-85 on Friday night to close out their first-round series in six games.
Advertisement
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that Brooks “exited the locker room before the media was allowed to enter postgame.”
This was at least the third time in the series in which Brooks declined to speak to reporters after the game.
On one level, it could be understandable when a player is frustrated after losing an emotionally taxing series, but NBA rules require players to be available to media, in part because these circumstances are when their quotes would be the most raw — and therefore interesting.
Furthermore, Brooks never saw a microphone he didn’t want to blabber into before the Lakers turned the tables in the series.
Advertisement
After the Grizzlies won a chippy Game 2 in Memphis to even the series at 1-1, Brooks prodded Lakers superstar LeBron James.
“I don’t care,” Brooks said. “He’s old.
“He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul,” Brooks said. “He should’ve been saying that earlier on. I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40, so I pride myself on what I do on defense and taking on any challenge that’s on the board.”
Advertisement
Brooks was subsequently ejected from Game 3 after hitting James in the groin, and then lashed out at the media for their portrayal of him and his adversary.
“The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me,” Brooks said after Grizzlies practice last week.
“So now you think I intended to hit LeBron James in the [groin]. I’m playing basketball. I’m a basketball player. So if I intended — and that’s whatever is in the flagrant 2 category — if you think I did that, that means you think I’m that type of person.”
Advertisement

The Lakers advance to play the winner of Kings-Warriors, who compete in Game 7 of their first-round series on Sunday afternoon.