Memphis Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks is an elite trash talker in the NBA

The Memphis Grizzlies were not expected to have much of an impact on the NBA in the 2020-21 season. In fact, without Jaren Jackson Jr. for most of the season, making the playoffs was an extreme longshot. At best, this team was supposed to give it their best in the play-in tournament and head home with frowns on their faces.

But that wasn’t the case in 2021.

In fact, the Grizzlies have quickly proven to be one of the feistiest teams in the league. They knocked out Stephen Curry, even while the game’s officials were doing everything they could to keep the MVP candidate in the game. They’d follow this by walking into Utah’s house and handing the Jazz a loss in game one of the 8th seed vs. 1st seed contest.

The Memphis Grizzlies play spirited basketball, led by Dillon Brooks

Even though the Grizzlies are the youngest team in the NBA Playoffs (by a pretty wide margin), they’ve competed like a team full of vets. But where has the veteran spirit on the team come from?

In short, Dillon Brooks.

Game in and game out, Dillon Brooks displays a mentality that he is not afraid of anybody. Even though Curry had a strong game scoring, he went just 2-10 against the Grizzlies when Brooks was guarding him. DB is the defensive energy guy that every great team has.

He takes on any challenge. When the Grizzlies play the Lakers, Brooks guards LeBron James. He’ll guard Curry on the Warriors. He’ll probably take on Donovan Mitchell when the All-Star guard returns.

But Brooks’ defense isn’t limited to on-ball defending. A crucial part of his game is his ability to get into opposing players’ heads. He always creates a chippy environment and causes the player that he is guarding to force offense and take bad shots — just look at what happened against the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this season.

Memphis Grizzlies G Dillon Brooks somehow got into Damian Lillard’s head

Damian Lillard, a player who never trash talks anybody, was getting into it with Dillon Brooks. Lillard looked like he was genuinely flustered, while Brooks looked completely unbothered after the fact, winking to his teammate after the interaction. The entire confrontation can be seen below.

It may not seem like much, but you rarely see things like this out of Damian Lillard, who generally stays focused and lets his game do the talking. Clearly, Brooks was doing something right, as Lillard shot 8-27 on the night en route to his team’s second straight loss against the Grizzlies.

In my eyes, this alone puts Brooks at or near the list of the league’s best trash talkers. He’s like Lance Stephenson with a higher ceiling as a basketball player.

Even though fans of other teams may eventually hate Brooks, Grizzlies fans have to love the passion that he plays within each game. The Canadian guard continues to develop on both sides of the ball and has quickly become one of the biggest steals in recent draft history.

If Memphis makes a run at the conference championship, Brooks will play a huge role in it.