Dillon Brooks took a cheap shot at Donovan Mitchell during the game. Mitchell took his own shot in his postgame press conference.
Brooks and Mitchell were ejected from Thursday night’s Grizzlies-Cavaliers game after Brooks hit Mitchell below the belt. Mitchell threw the ball at Brooks, then jumped up and shoved the Grizzlies guard.
Mitchell didn’t mince words when a reporter asked if he thought Brooks “cheap-shotted” him.
“For sure. That’s just who he is,” Mitchell responded. “We’ve seen it a bunch in this league with him.”
Then Cleveland’s star lowered the boom.
“He and I have had our personal battles for years,” Mitchell continued. “Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his ass for years. Regular season, playoffs.”
Brooks had held Mitchell to 2-11 shooting in this one, but in the 2021 playoffs, Mitchell averaged 28.5 points in four wins over Memphis (he didn’t play in Memphis’ Game 1 victory) while shooting 45 percent from the field.
Mitchell continued, “It’s tough. When you can’t guard somebody, you gotta resort to that. That’s what he does to a lot of players.”
Brooks is developing a reputation as one of the league’s dirtiest players, especially after he broke Gary Payton II’s elbow during the 2022 playoffs. Brooks was ejected and suspended for one game as a result.
He’s the self-styled enforcer for Memphis, which involves a lot of trash talking and shoving players from behind.
Of course, Brooks thinks that the referees are “picking on him” because of his reputation. He led the league in fouls in 2020 and 2021, and he’s seventh this season. Brooks is also second in the NBA with 13 technical fouls, three away from a mandatory suspension.
His reckless play isn’t helping a Memphis Grizzlies team that wants to become a “dynasty,” as Brooks put it. The Grizz have lost seven of their last eight games, and even Brooks admits that his team’s trash talk has “backfired” in many situations.
A bigger problem might be Brooks firing up terrible shots. In the new year, he is shooting 21 percent from three-point range, while taking five per game. Only two Grizzlies regulars have a worse offensive rating than Brooks, 21-year-olds Ziaire Williams and David Roddy. Brooks is making just 31.3 percent of his threes on the year, which makes the spacing difficult with fellow starters Ja Morant (32 percent from deep) and Steven Adams (missed the only two threes he’s taken as a Grizzly).
In a way, Brooks’ cheap shots and frequent ejections might end up helping his team: It’s one way to get his mediocre offense off the floor.
