Dramatic, delusional and dangerous Memphis Grizzlies don't care what you think | Opinion
What Dillon Brooks said about LeBron James was insane. Much more so than what he said before this Grizzlies-Lakers series began.
Let’s just get that out of the way first.
Brooks called James “old.” He declared James to be “not on the same level as he was” when he played in Cleveland and Miami. He “let him know you can’t take me one-on-one.” He talked about him in ways no other NBA players talk about him. He leaned in, perhaps more so than ever before given the stage, to the pro wrestling heel he has become.
“I poke bears. I don’t respect no one til they come and give me 40,” Brooks said, as if challenging the NBA’s all-time leading scorer so publicly were a normal thing to do.
It was all but begging for the national conversation to be about him and James the next few days, as opposed to all the other developments that led to the Grizzlies’ 103-93 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round matchup Wednesday.
And yet, if you’ve been following this group of Memphis players the past two seasons, it also completed an all-encompassing experience, one that underscored why the Grizzlies remain a threat despite so many who counted them out after Game 1.
'I don't care, he's old': Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks isn't afraid to confront LeBron James
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There was the drama of whether Ja Morant would play or not, with the decision for him to sit made within an hour of tipoff. There was the delusion of Brooks challenging James in a manner few players have before. There was the danger presented by a roster that’s so endearingly resilient, despite its other imperfections.
Whatever you think of that, this is who they are and this is what everybody saw Wednesday. They are a lovable lot that’s simultaneously easy to hate. They talk too much, and yet they win more than anybody seems willing to give them credit for.
They are a team that just beat the Lakers in a playoff game in which Morant didn’t see the court, the play of the game was a stunning block by John Konchar on Davis, and the best player in the game was Xavier Tillman Sr.
“You couldn’t write this,” Tillman said after he outplayed Davis to the tune of 23 points and 12 rebounds. “It’s humbling.”
Countered Desmond Bane: “That’s been the story of the Grizzlies since I got here.”
That’s how they emerged from a deficit many viewed as dire given the circumstances. They didn't care that pundits had somehow determined after one game that this series was over, even though the ending to this season would have likely been near without Wednesday’s positive outcome.
Going down 0-2 with two games coming up in Los Angeles would have made advancing to the Western Conference semifinals a daunting task. No Grizzlies team has ever come back from an 0-2 hole after losing two home games.
Now, though, the impending return of Morant – coach Taylor Jenkins was non-committal on a specific timeframe, but signs seem to point to a Game 3 comeback – turned a result that could have potentially doomed Memphis’ chances in the series into a result that felt like a momentum shifter because the Grizzlies got it without their star.
While the focus this week revolved around Morant’s status and the possibility that this might be one injury too many for the Grizzlies to overcome, Memphis instead fixated on how often it had been in this spot before.
"The guys know what our DNA is. We compete together," Jenkins said.
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The Grizzlies have now compiled a 33-17 record without Morant in the lineup the past two seasons, a stat that appears to diminish Morant’s importance. But consider how Memphis won Wednesday.
It won with defense and rebounding. It won with three of its top seven rotation players seated on the bench watching as seven Grizzlies players finished in double figures. It won by forcing Davis into a nightmarish 4-for-14 performance from the field after he dominated Game 1. It won, despite scoring just one field goal in the final six minutes of Game 2.
That basket, by the way, was a 3-pointer from Brooks off an offensive rebound by Tillman. When he hit it, Brooks stared down James and let him know. Just like he did when the two confronted one another in the third quarter, when James said something to Brooks about picking up a fourth foul, according to Brooks. It’s the sequence that prompted Brooks’ postgame rant about James and, surely, a rude welcome Saturday in Los Angeles – from James and the crowd.
"They’ve been booing me for about three years in the playoffs," Brooks said. "It just goes to show that people know the name and they’ve got to boo the name – Dillon Brooks.”
This, it seems, is just who he is at this point, and neither he nor the Grizzlies care what you think.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto