Lakers News: Hall Of Famer Explains How LA Playoff Opponent Earned Lucrative Deal
Even though he was vanquished pretty early during your Los Angeles Lakers' run to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, ex-Memphis Grizzlies small forward Dillon Brooks became probably LA fans' single most-loathed opponent during that stint.
Brooks, tasked with defending All-NBA Lakers wing LeBron James, launched a persistent attack campaign in the media, with recurrent digs at the 19-time All-Star. By the end of the six-game series, Brooks' shooting woes sank him in his own team's rotation. Prior to his free agency in July, Memphis revealed that it wouldn't be bringing him back.
And then he signed a four-year, $80 million deal with a (probably) lottery-bound Houston Rockets club.
During a new episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast with host Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Hall of Fame small forward Tracy McGrady, a seven-time All-Star with the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets, broke down how Brooks' run as a LeBron James irritant, even in a losing effort, paid off in a huge way this summer.
"Now some of the ‘antics’ I could do without, but I’m talking about from a competitive standpoint: if he doesn’t do some of the things that he did last year going at LeBron... we’re not talking about Dillon Brooks, bro," McGrady observed. "He’s just another player that’s in the NBA that’s on somebody’s roster that people are overlooking. He’s made a name for himself. Whether it's good or bad people are talking about him and in essence, that man just signed an $80 million dollar contract! So whatever he did, it worked for him. Good for him! All that backlash and all this stuff that people are talking about…. Maaaannn listen. Y’all wouldn’t know who Dillon Brooks was if he wasn’t competing and going at LeBron that way so he did his job. He got an $80 million dollar deal out of the s--- he did last season."
The 6'7" swingman out of Oregon averaged just 10.5 points on .312/.238/.714 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists across 27.8 minutes a night during his six fateful playoff games against LA this season. His money this summer was made more on the defensive end, but even there he struggled against James. Conversely, the 6'8" LA superstar averaged 22.2 points on 48.6% shooting from the floor, 11.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals in that series.
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