Dillon Brooks is at it again, and this time he didn’t even last five minutes into his Rockets preseason debut on Tuesday night, as he was ejected for a flagrant foul 2 to the groin of Pacers big man Daniel Theis.
Despite the actions seemed avoidable, the new Houston signing told the press he didn’t mean to strike the German center and simply blames the referees’ decision on his poor reputation.
“I tried to navigate a screen,” Brooks responded to the press after his team’s victory. “I might have tapped him below the waist, but he got right back up. I don’t know. It’s weird that every time it happens to me, I get picked on. I guess it’s part of reputation.”
Take a look at the scenes in the opening quarter of the Rockets’ 122-103 victory, as Brooks clashes against his opponent:
When asked more directly if he feels targeted by the NBA officials, he revealed his new nickname. “What’s the name? What’s my name? My name is Dillon the Villain, so I guess,” he answered.
Curious as it is, Brooks has been expressing this narrative for quite some time now. Back when he was a Memphis Grizzly last season, he gave a similar explanation after dealing with another ejection for a flagrant foul 2 during Game 2 of their lost playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. That time, he hit superstar LeBron James in the groin too.
“The media making me a villain, the fans making me a villain and then that just creates a whole different persona on me,” the guard said back in April.
His ejection was unfortunate considering that Houston was leading the scoreboard 13-10 with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter. As Theis set a screen on Brooks, who was guarding Bennedict Mathurin, the player followed his rival’s movement and struck the German in between his legs with an open left hand.
The Rockets coach reveals that he loves his player’s aggressiveness, and also caved into the discourse that suggests that he’s affected by his reputation
New Houston coach Ime Udoka didn’t agree with the NBA officials, as he admires Brooks’ defensive prowess and even acknowledged there is a perception around his guard.
“We love his aggressiveness and physicality,” he shared. “But reputations carry in the NBA, and people will look for certain things. You got to monitor that better.”
Dillon Brooks has a new nickname for himself 👀 pic.twitter.com/JZXkvPiiTS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 11, 2023
As for Brooks, he later insisted that there’s no proof that he struck Theis’ groin on purpose, and said he would never hurt anyone intentionally.
“For a flagrant 2 foul like that, you got to know if a person is doing it on purpose or intention,” the 27-year-old said. “That’s really going at who I am as a person. That ref, Mitch, that just shows that he just doesn’t know who I am as a person. He’s just going off what’s been said.”
His consistent antagonistic actions were one of the main reasons why the Grizzlies didn’t opt to re-signing him in free agency this summer, and then agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with the Rockets.
