Suns Star Dillon Brooks Took His LeBron Hating to New Levels

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The Phoenix Suns have been bystanders to the second round of NBA postseason action after being eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder, though some have had better seats than others.

No other than Suns forward Dillon Brooks was courtside for the Los Angeles Lakers’ eventual loss to OKC, sweepting L.A. out of the postseason in similar 4-0 series fashion to Phoenix.

Brooks, probably one of the NBA’s top-hated players, seemed to enjoy every minute of it, sitting right next to the hoop and watching rival LeBron James bow out of the playoffs for one could possibly be his final game, at least in a Lakers uniform.

Brooks and James have a pretty heated history against each other, which was only turned up when Brooks arrived to Phoenix last summer in the blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant. Though Brooks reached new levels in terms of scoring at 20 points per game (a career high) his “villain” mantra was very much a storyline.

That included some words for James when the Suns played the Lakers, as Brooks said he wouldn’t “bow” to James like others across the league do while also calling him a “social media junkie” this past season.

Yet that mentality was somewhat flipped when Brooks spoke with Yahoo!’s Kelly Iko after Game 4, as Brooks offered a surprisingly nice sentiment on James:

“I don’t think it’s his last year,” Brooks said. “I think he got one more in him. I watched him when I was in the NBA, when I was a kid in high school. He’s got a phenomenal career and battled everybody and done it at a high level throughout. It’s been amazing to watch overall, a pleasure to battle against him.”

Still, Brooks was pretty ecstatic to see the Lakers go out and show some love to the Thunder — especially fellow Canadian in guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

There’s hope the Suns will be playing at this time next season, which will require Brooks and the rest of Phoenix’s cast to take their game to new heights.

“Technical fouls, I’ll say I love them… I’d rather him not get suspended, but I take him as he is,” Suns owner Mat Ishbia said on Brooks.

“Can he get better at things? Absolutely, but he’s a leader, he cares, I love him, I love having him here. Dillon deserves everything he’s gotten. He’s earned it. You get what you deserve in life. Dillon deserves everything he’s gotten. He’s earned it.”

Whether that comes against James and the Lakers next year remains to be seen.

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