Dillon Brooks finished with his post-match interview on the pitch. But when he reached his locker room, he couldn’t help slipping, tapping the journalist on the shoulder: ” You should give the mic to Draymond… Get him to talk about me, so I can play better. »
Author of an outing with 14 points (6/15 on shots including 1/7 from afar), 6 assists and 4 rebounds, the back of the Grizzlies could display his teasing mood in view of his team’s large victory against the champions In title. A meeting marked, unsurprisingly, by a slight clash between Draymond Green and him, just before the break.
A face-to-face face-to-face, nose to nose, almost gently, with no gesture from one to push the other away, or even words exchanged. ” I told him to keep the mic, to keep doing his podcast, to blog, to keep doing his thing off the court. It’s cute, it’s nice “, reports all the same the player of Memphis.
A way to evoke the rise in temperature, through the media, between the two men in the days preceding this meeting. Brooks spoke first in the press, before Green answered him, point by point, in his podcast.
A suspension game overhead
” I was kind of waiting for this moment, just to see what he was going to say. But he took the side of the media and said nothing, which is good. I was expecting him to talk a bit more, but I think he needs to clear all that up before he speaks. Judge Brooks, about whom Green had quipped about the lack of “fact-checking” against his own individual and collective record.
There may be a reason why the Warriors player preferred not to bark on the action: he risked taking a 16th technical foul this season, synonymous with a game suspension. A penalty recently experienced by the Grizzlies player, who has already reached this total of 16 technical fouls.
” He thought he was trapping me, like he is being trapped. I take technical faults when I feel like it. I don’t get tricked, that’s probably the difference between him and me. If I do that to him, it will be a technical double fault, because he will respond. But this is not a double technical fault, because I did not answer », welcomes insideauthor of 16 points (5/9), 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
Brooks hints at the punch
Brooks, whose teammates showed him Green’s response video, puts a coin back in the machine accusing the Warriors player of having ” used my name to pitch his podcast. He should at least thank me. […] There were some funny things. (Like what) I am not a player to play the title. We will see at the end of the year what will happen with him. »
Ja Morant’s teammate wasn’t upset by this podcast, because he thinks he’s ” best “, on the ground, that his jousting partner: ” I can do the same things as him. It’s easy. Just show up at the room. Me, I try to score, to call systems… The simple fact that he tried to mount my teammates against me was a low blow. That’s the type of player he is. These are my friends. We grew up together. I have no physical altercations with my teammates. I sit and talk to them, I don’t try to tear them down, but to build with them. »
The rear is of course alluding here to the inside punch delivered to Jordan Poole before the start of the season. A predictable response in the direction of Green, who felt that Brooks was not appreciated by his teammates…
“Rivalry” in question
When is the next episode between them two? Warriors and Grizzlies play one last regular season game in just under ten days. Before a possible playoffs? If the final stages started today, Memphis, 3rd, would face Golden State, 6th.
” They never forget. When they won the title, they were talking about us. They never forget who the Memphis Grizzlies are. They are preparing and looking forward to playing against us “, Believes Brooks, according to whom the statements of Green contribute to give rise to a rivalry between the two formations.
For Green, who thinks that ” everyone can win in march “, this notion of rivalry does not hold: “ One team must win, then the other must win. This is what creates a rivalry. It’s not because a team says they can beat you and they don’t. It does not create rivalry. […] Obviously, we’ve won four times, and I don’t think their franchise has won any titles. So I can’t consider it a rivalry. »
