


Dillon Brooks won’t be suspended for his low blow to LeBron James.
The NBA will not be taking further action against the Grizzlies agitator, ESPN reported Sunday, after he was ejected from Saturday’s game against the Lakers in the third quarter for hitting James in the groin area.
The Lakers won Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round NBA playoff series, with Game 4 set for Monday.
The blow by Brooks came early in the third quarter with the Lakers up 53-37.
James was bringing the ball up the court when he dribbled behind his back, and Brooks’ left hand hit James in his “crown jewels,” as James later described it in a Spectrum SportsNet interview.
When asked after the game if Brooks should be suspended, James said, “I’m not a part of that committee. If he’s in the lineup, out of the lineup, we’ve got to prepare no matter what.”
Brooks was suspended twice last month, one game for picking up his 16th technical foul of the season and another game when he was assessed his 18th tech.
Joel Embiid and James Harden of the 76ers avoided suspensions for low blows during the first round against the Nets.
Draymond Green has been the one player suspended so far in the 2023 NBA playoffs for stomping on the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis in Game 2.
Green’s “history of unsportsmanlike acts” was a factor in the suspension, NBA head of basketball operations Joe Dumars said.
After the Grizzlies’ Game 2 win, during which James and Brooks were jawing at each other, Brooks called the 38-year-old James “old” and said, “I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40 [points].”
James then confronted Brooks in plain sight on the court during warmups before Saturday’s Game 3 in Los Angeles.
While James didn’t reveal what he said to Brooks, he knew people would be speculating about it.
“There was nothing private about it,” said James, who had 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting. “It was very, very public. I like it that way.”