Dillon Brooks was already an embarrassment his trash talk backfiring. Then he stooped even lower, getting ejected for hitting LeBron James in the groin.
The drama between Dillon Brooks and LeBron James was sure to make Saturday’s Game 3 matchup between the Lakers and Grizzlies all the more intense. And it certainly did. It’s just that no one could have predicted how the wild storyline would end.
Brooks called out James as “old” after Game 2. He said he wasn’t afraid to “pole the bear” and taunted the Lakers star by saying he doesn’t respect anyone who doesn’t put up 40 points on him.
Well, LeBron and the Lakers, as they say, took that personally. In front of a raucous crowd at crypto.com Arena, the Lakers demolished the Grizzlies in the first quarter. Brooks was held scoreless and LA jumped out to a 35-9 lead while holding Memphis to the lowest point total in a quarter in the NBA this season.
That was embarrassing enough for Brooks and company. Then he went and got himself ejected.
Dillon Brooks was ejected after receiving a flagrant 2 for this hit to LeBron. pic.twitter.com/LL9CLRAryy
— ESPN (@espn) April 23, 2023
In the third quarter, Brooks took a swat at James’ groin area, sending the Lakers star to the floor in pain. The refs took a look at the play and determined it was worth a Flagrant 2 and an ejection.
Best memes and tweets after Dillon Brooks was ejected for hitting LeBron James in the groin
NBA Twitter had a field day with this one, but we’ll start with the fans who had some fun with the fact that Brooks was a detriment to his team and his ejection probably gave them a better chance to win:
Lakers should have the right to waive ejection and let Dillon Brooks keep playing if they want.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 23, 2023
Dillon Brooks ejected. Terrible break for the Lakers. Let’s see if they can overcome this
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) April 23, 2023
Mostly, folks on Twitter just couldn’t believe how embarrassing Brooks managed to be in all this.
Dillon Brooks: “Bron can’t put 40 on me if I’m not in the game!” pic.twitter.com/OAAVa9NDUP
— Jay Scott Smith (@JayScottSmith) April 23, 2023
Oh, that's what Brooks meant when he said "I poke bears" pic.twitter.com/w2Qy2BD6Ci
— NBA Shane (@Shane00) April 23, 2023
DILLON BROOKS AT HALF
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) April 23, 2023
🧱 16 minutes
🧱 7 points
🧱 3/13 FG
🧱 1/5 3P
THE WORST PLAYER IN THE NBA 🔥 pic.twitter.com/e3HKu9zkyb
Dillon Brooks vs LeBron James
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@Vator_H_Town) April 23, 2023
Grand Opening Grand Closing pic.twitter.com/7iGJUIH5NL
LeBron James watching Dillon Brooks get ejected tonight. 😅💀pic.twitter.com/7ex1Wj8Gy6
— theScore Bet (@theScoreBet) April 23, 2023
Dillon Brooks watching LeBron in the locker room pic.twitter.com/kx6tMwlNMv
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) April 23, 2023
Basically, the whole night could not have gone worse for Brooks, who exited with seven points on 3-of-13 shooting. He had two rebounds and a steal plus one turnover and two personal fouls.
Needless to say, LeBron won this round.
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