Devin Booker used to have tensed moments with Dillon Brooks but now that they are teammates in the Phoenix Suns, he will probably love him.
Brooks made a name for himself not just simply as a staunch defender, a role he mastered that earned him NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2023. He became widely known in the league for his in your face defense and acts as he is trolling his opponent.
“[Dillon] called me immediately the day the trade went down,” Booker said during Suns’ media day on Wednesday.
“The guy you hate when he’s not on your team, but you embrace him when he is. I think that whole reputation has taken away from what type of player he is.”
Brooks came to the Suns over the summer in a traded regarded as the biggest in NBA history. The traded involved seven teams although its main highlight is Kevin Durant going to the Houston Rockets and him and Jalen Green moving to Phoenix.
Team owner Matt Isbhia said he specifically targeted the 29-year-old forward when KD was requested by the Rockets.
“We made the Kevin Durant trade, Dillon was a target. Dillon is exactly what we’re talking about. He’s the kind of guy we want here. Defensive minded, tough, sticks up for his teammates”
Dillon Brooks said Memphis started his villain role
Brooks came to the league in 2017 relatively unknown, less heralded compared to his batchmates. Good thing for him, he found his niche.
He became the villain and even butt heads with the likes of Durant, Lebron James, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchel, Booker – basically each opponents’ top scorer.
It was a role Memphis Grizzlies benefited from but it was also this team that made him take that path.
“Memphis not wanting me, rying to figure out a new path in the NBA,” he told reporters.
“I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘How can I be wanted?’… The way I play, smash mouth, physical, in your face type of game is where I got the villain [role from].”
Suns will need a player like Brooks following the changes they made in the offseason.
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