Dillon Brooks doesn't regret trash talk aimed at LeBron James: 'That's who I am'
Dillon Brooks isn't showing any remorse.
The Memphis Grizzlies forward spoke with the media Sunday, two days after the team's blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6, eliminating the No. 2 seed in the first round. Brooks had been at the center of the biggest storyline during the series, calling LeBron James "old" and saying "I don't respect no one until they come and give me 40 (points)" following the Grizzlies' 103-93 Game 2 win.
Now, with Memphis eliminated from the NBA playoffs, Brooks is standing by what he said.
"No, that's who I am," Brooks said. "I don't regret it. I'm a competitor. I compete.
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The forward added his trash-talking is used for his personal matchups, and he doesn't believe his comments provided extra motivation for James. The NBA all-time leading scorer averaged 18.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in the series.
"I don't think it got LeBron geeked up, as he was back in the playoffs. It's been a little while so I think he was ready to play, and overall we just got beat by a better team," Brooks said.
When asked about how his trash talk is perceived during games, Brooks said it takes away "what calls are made," noting when he was ejected from Game 3 after hitting James in the groin. But it won't change his mentality on or off the court.
"I'm not gonna change," he said. "I'm gonna keep doing what I do and get better."
Grizzlies general manger and president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman said in his exit interview there "were certainly self-created distractions" during the series.
"As we're looking forward and thinking about what comes next, those are all things that we're going to keep in mind from a competitive standpoint," Kleiman.
Dillon Brooks' future in Memphis
The sixth-year forward from Oregon will be unrestricted free agency in the offseason, but said he thinks the chances of him returning to Memphis are good. Kleiman was non-committal Sunday on Brooks' future with the Grizzlies.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dillon Brooks: 'Don't regret' comments at LeBron James during playoffs
