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LeBron James and Dillon Brooks have a heated rivalry going back to last season. While Brooks is no longer on the Memphis Grizzlies, he and LeBron James still seem to have some personal beef. When Brooks and the Houston Rockets played LeBron James and the LA Lakers on Monday, things went to the next level.
In the fourth quarter, with the Lakers down 13 points, James went up for a rebound at the same time as Brooks, who came down hard, smacking James in the face from behind.
LeBron James immediately hit the deck, clutching at his face while lying face down on the ground. At the same time, Brooks was shown on camera walking to the other side of the court.
After he gathered himself off the ground, James was seen pleading his case to the referee with coach Darvin Ham on his side. Astute fans familiar with lip reading believe that at one point James can be seen saying "He punched me in the nose!"
Check out the clip below and decide for yourself.
After the blow, James and the Lakers never recovered, falling to the Rockets 135-119 at the end of regulation.
During the game, James put up a double-double, averaging 23 points and 10 assists. Meanwhile, Brooks scored 17 points of his own in 28 minutes, while adding three rebounds to the team's total.
Looking at the LeBron James-Dillon Brooks rivalry
As previously stated, LeBron James and Dillon Brooks have a rivalry going back to last season, when Brooks alleged that James doesn't like driving left.
After fouling out against James and the Lakers during a game in Jan. 2023, he explained to the media:
“He doesn’t want to go left. I was just making him go left all game. He would settle or he would pass the ball.”
Later that season, Brooks indicated that given the standings at the time, he wouldn't mind if the Grizzlies played James and the Lakers in the playoffs. Following a team practice at the time, he was quoted by CommercialApparel as saying:
“I wouldn’t mind playing LeBron (James) in a seven-game series. The legacy is there. First time back in the playoffs, knock him out right away. They’ll test us good. They got good pieces, good players. That’ll be a good first-round matchup for us.”
During the playoffs, Brooks took aim at James while speaking to media members after Game 2. Following a confrontation with James mid-game, he called the future Hall of Famer old:
While James fired back in a big way on the box score, Brooks hit him below the belt in a controversial play during Game 3.
Ultimately, when it came to the playoffs, James and the Lakers got the last laugh as they eliminated the Grizzlies.
