Dillon Brooks made it clear shortly after the Memphis Grizzlies’ 131-110 win over the Warriors that he likes to talk, and later, in the locker room, he did just that, sounding off on 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 over into the contest at FedExForum, with the two getting into an odd, 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 at 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 stuff that he does. That’s easy. That’s just showing up to work. I try to score, I try to figure out plays, I try to call out plays for my team, so just the fact that he was trying to pin my teammates against me, 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 your teammates like you. Doesn’t lead to winning. I can tell you why they like me [in Golden State]. When you contribute the way I have contributed to winning four championships, they tend to like you..”
Golden State Warriors
In response, reporters asked Brooks if he was secure in the knowledge that his teammates ride with him.
That’s when Brooks invoked the infamous training camp altercation between Green and Jordan Poole.
“100 percent,” Brooks said Thursday. “These are my guys. We grew it all together. I ain’t out there getting into physical altercations with my teammates. I sit there and talk to them, not break them down but build them up.”
Green was asked about what happened between him and Brooks with one minute remaining in the second quarter when Brooks intercepted a lazy Warriors inbound pass and converted a layup around Green.
When Green secured the ball, he pushed it into the face of Brooks before cooler heads prevailed. No technical fouls were assessed.
“He thought he would bait me like he gets baited,” Green told reporters. “I get technical fouls when I want to get technical fouls. I don’t get baited into technical fouls. So I think that’s probably the difference between me and him. If I do that to him, that’s probably a double tech because he would respond. But it’s not a double technical because I didn’t respond. One of us are bait-able and one of us aren’t and that’s just kind of how it goes.”
There’s still a long way to go in the 2022-23 regular season, but there’s a distinct chance the Warriors and Grizzlies meet in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
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If that happens, grab your popcorn and get comfortable because Green and Brooks very likely will go at each other several times during a potential series.