Dillon Brooks and Lebron James has built some personal rivalry and it showed in the past encounters Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers had this season.
The latest one, however, was underwhelming. Brooks was usually the instigator but on Monday, he decided to tone it down. The only infraction he committed was when he was assessed a lane violation while LBJ was taking a free throw.
It is probably the fact that it was a blown out game in favor of the Suns. The intensity was no longer on the roof and him starting something will be found corny by some, or to his teammates and coaches, just totally unnecessary.
Brooks even high-fived the Lakers star in the free throw line.
Dillon Brooks high-fived LeBron after he made FT 😂😭 pic.twitter.com/v248gyQ14S
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) December 24, 2025
Those two could be among the reasons but the one-time All Defensive Second Team member said behaving in front of four-time champion is something he personally decided on before the game. He has former Suns player Rex Chapman to credit for that.
“Rex (Chapman) told me respect, you get respect by showing respect. I was just tuned in, locked in from the jump, from my pregame workout and was just ready to go,” he told reporters when asked about the lack of confrontation between him and his nemesis.
Brooks finished with 25 points although he went blank in other categories except fouls.
Jordan Ott welcomes the behaved Dillon Brooks
There were two instances in the past week when Brooks got a little too intense and the Suns ended up losing the game.
His teammates spoke about how they need him to be available on the floor and Brooks welcomed it. In his incident with Stephen Curry, he said he will need to do some soul searching.
Suns coach Jordan Ott welcomes this response by Brooks. He said it was something they discussed with the whole team.
“He’s been tremendous. We love his energy. We love his competitive spirit. It’s lifted our entire group. We feed off of it.”
Jordan Ott on Dillon Brooks walking the fine line.
“We’ve talked about it. He’s got to get to the edge and not go over. It’s with the whole group. It’s… pic.twitter.com/mHggeOBmu1
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 24, 2025
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