Suns' Brooks labels LeBron 'a social-media junkie'
Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks expressed remorse Wednesday for getting himself ejected late during Sunday's narrow loss to the Los Angles Lakers.
"That's my problem through my whole career, is I let those things happen and then I'm off the floor," Brooks said, according to The Athletic's Doug Haller.
However, the 29-year-old doubled down on his confrontational approach toward Lakers star LeBron James, whom he aggressively bumped in the game's final minute, leading to his second technical foul. Both players each picked up a technical foul earlier in the contest, with James needing to be restrained after Brooks batted a ball in his direction.
"I guess he's a social-media junkie," Brooks said when asked why James was upset. "He be all over the socials, so he be seeing I guess what I'm saying. Like I've (said), he thinks that people should think a way about him or not say nothing about him or play a certain way, and I'm not going to play that way. He gets in his moods or in his modes or whatever it is. I'm all for that."
The dustup was the latest chapter in an ongoing feud between the competitors. Brooks authored a 33-point performance in the Suns' first meeting with the Lakers on Dec. 2. He said postgame that James "likes people who bow down. I don't bow down."
On Sunday, Brooks drilled a 3-pointer over James to give Phoenix a 114-113 lead with 12.2 seconds remaining after the team previously faced a 20-point deficit. James knocked Brooks to the ground while closing out.
The Suns standout took exception to a foul not being called after the play, which led to his bump on James. The NBA's last-two-minute report affirmed that the officials were correct in their no-call on the play.
After the game, James downplayed the feistiness of his feud with Brooks.
"I just like to compete," James said, according ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "He's going to compete. I'm going to compete. We're going to get up in each other's face. Try not to go borderline with it. I don't really take it there. But we're just competing and did that almost all the way to the end of the game."
Brooks, who finished with 18 points, said that he intends to do a better job of keeping his emotions in check in the future.
"When I'm on the floor, it changes the whole game," Brooks said, according to Haller.