Memphis Grizzlies’ player Dillon Brooks isn’t scared of LeBron James.
The Grizzlies guard, 27, got into it with the Lakers star, 38, during the second half of Wednesday’s Game 2 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, and Brooks didn’t shy away from reminding the NBA superstar which team won the game.
“I don’t care. He’s old,” Brooks told Tim MacMahon after Memphis pulled off a 103-93 win over Los Angeles to tie the series.
Brooks said he was “waiting for” James to instigate some competitive dialogue in the series but didn’t think it’d start until games four or five. “He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul,” Brooks recalled.
“I poke bears. I don’t respect no one ’til they come and give me 40. I pride myself on what I do is defense and taking on any challenge,” he explained.
And speaking to Grizzlies beat reporter Damichael Cole, Brooks said he wishes he would have been able to compete against a younger version of the Lakers star because “it would have been a harder task.”
After Brooks’ postgame comments, MacMahon noted that the Grizzlies defensive star once posted about James being “the champion” in 2012.
Brooks had 12 points on Wednesday night with only three rebounds and a single assist in Memphis’s win.
James had 28 points and 12 rebounds in the Game 2 loss to Memphis. The series will travel to Los Angeles this week for two games at the Crypto.com Arena before both teams return to Memphis.
“They don’t miss a beat. We knew that,” James said of Memphis’ scrappy young team after the loss.
“Game 3 is the most important game of the series,” James said about the pressure his team faces on Saturday.
Although the Lakers will take back the home-court advantage, James said it doesn’t matter. “It’s a 1-1 series. Both teams are tied. Both teams feel like they can win on each other’s floor.”
The Grizzlies and the Lakers tip-off for Game 3 on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles.