After an altercation with LeBron James that led to an ejection during a matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Phoenix Suns guard Dillon Brooks had strong words about James.
"He is a social media junkie. He be all over the socials," Brooks said. "He be seeing what I'm saying. And when I go out there he thinks that people should think a way about him and not say nothing about him or play a certain way. I'm not going to play that way. He gets in his moods or in his modes or whatever it is and I'm all for that. I wish we would have let him shoot that shot and that s--t would have been an airball."
Brooks, who has been known to try to antagonize James for several years now, was ejected just seconds after hitting a clutch three. The ejection came with 12.2 seconds left as he got in the face of James, apparently upset by the way James contested the three. Brooks was handed his second technical foul of the game.
The NBA's Last Two Minutes report said that James' contest of Brooks' shot did not warrant a foul because Brooks extended his leg toward James.
"Then it should've been an offensive foul then," Brooks said about the call.
James missed the technical free throw, but was then fouled on a three-point attempt. He hit two of the three shots to give the Lakers the lead, and they held on for a 116-114 win.
While Brooks might irritate James some, James said after the game that he actually appreciates Brooks' competitiveness.
"I just like to compete," James told reporters when asked about playing against Brooks. "He's going to compete. I'm going to co mpete. 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."
While James and Brooks are nowhere close to each other when it comes to their standing in NBA history, they've formed an unexpected rivalry dating back to Brooks' time with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers and Suns will square off again next week, and Brooks will look to get the best of James and pick up a win.
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