Dillon Brooks made it clear shortly after the Memphis Grizzlies’ 131-110 victory over the Warriors that he likes to talk, and later, in the locker room, he did just that, sounding like Draymond Green.
In the days leading up to Thursday’s game between the Warriors and Grizzlies, Brooks and Green traded verbal shots. The tension then spilled into the match on FedExForum, with the two getting into a strange, tamer-than-normal altercation just before halftime.
In the locker room after the game, Brooks told reporters that his teammates showed him what Green said on “The Draymond Green Show” on Wednesday, and when asked if the comments upset him, the Grizzlies’ guard took several shots on the four-time NBA champion.
“No, no, because I know I’m a better player than him,” Brooks told reporters (h/t Clayton Collier of ABC 24 Memphis). “I can do the same things as him. That’s easy. That’s just showing up at work. I’m trying to score, I’m trying to think of moves, I’m trying to call out moves for my team, so just the fact that he’s my teammates trying to pin me up, that was a low blow and that’s the type of player he is.”
During his podcast on Wednesday, Green insinuated that Grizzlies players don’t like Brooks.
“I’m trying to figure out why they like you in Memphis,” Green said. “Or do they like you in Memphis? I’m not sure if your teammates like you. Doesn’t lead to winning. I can tell you why they like me [in Golden State]. When you contribute like I contributed to winning four championships, they tend to like you.
In response, reporters asked Brooks if he was sure his teammates were riding with him.
That’s when Brooks evoked the infamous altercation between Green and Jordan Poole.
“100 percent,” Brooks said Thursday. “These are my boys. We grew it all together. I’m not going to get into physical altercations with my teammates there. I sit there and talk to them, I don’t tear them down, I build them up.”
Green was asked what had happened between him and Brooks with one minute left in the second quarter when Brooks intercepted a lazy inbound Warriors pass and converted a layup around Green.
When Green secured the ball, he pushed it into Brooks’ face before cooler heads got the better of him. No technical errors were judged.
“He thought he was going to lure me the way he gets lured,” Green told reporters. “I get technical fouls when I want to make technical fouls. I don’t get caught up in technical fouls. So I think that’s probably the difference between me and him. If I do that to him, it’s probably a double technique because he would respond. But it’s not a double technical because I didn’t respond. One of us is suited for bait and one of us isn’t, and that’s the way it goes.”
There’s still a long way to go in the 2022-23 regular season, but there’s a good chance the Warriors and Grizzlies will meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
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When that happens, grab your popcorn and make yourself comfortable, because Green and Brooks will likely attack each other several times during a potential series.
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