Memphis Grizzlies: Jazz fans heckled Dillon Brooks’ family with racism
The Memphis Grizzlies have been through a rollercoaster past couple of weeks. After being expected to lose in the play-in tournament, Memphis upset the Golden State Warriors and earned the 8th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.
It was an incredible performance from the team as a whole, but one player stood out as a star for the Grizz on that day. That player is Dillon Brooks.
Prior to the play-in tournament, Brooks wasn’t a player who was on many NBA fans’ radars. As a second-round pick a few years back, he was never expected to amount to much at the next level. But boy has he exceeded expectations.
In the past couple of weeks, Brooks has gone from a relatively unknown NBA player to one of the biggest “love or hate” players in the league. As a result of this, he has earned a handful of new nicknames, including a personal favorite in “Villain Brooks.”
Memphis Grizzlies G Dillon Brooks has been the Grizzlies’ wildcard
The Grizzlies have been hot, and while it’s easy to give full credit to Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks has been vital to this team’s success. The Grizzlies have struggled defensively when he’s off the court and been elite defensively when he is on the court.
Even though Stephen Curry had a strong shooting night against the Grizzlies, Brooks held him to just 2-10 shooting while the two were matched up against one another.
Against the Jazz, Brooks has been showing out on the offensive end, dropping 31 points in the first contest between these two teams. He likely would have had another strong scoring night if not for early foul trouble in game 2. As a result of this, fans know his name.
Against the Utah Jazz, fans boo Brooks every time he touches the ball — a move that, if they’re smart, they will discontinue soon, as DB has been performing even better while Jazz fans show him disrespect. All in all, though, the booing doesn’t cross any lines.
Utah Jazz fans crossed a line with racist comments directed at Dillon Brooks’ family
As reported by John Martin of the Athletic, Tee Morant, Ja Morant’s father, said that Dillon Brooks’ family was receiving inappropriate heckling to the same degree as their own family. Fans shouted inappropriate comments, including referring to the Brooks family as “half-breeds.”
Piled on with the comments that Ja Morant’s family received, this is a really bad look for the Utah Jazz. They were quick to ban the fans who yelled sexually explicit and racist comments toward the Morant family, but action has not yet been taken in regards to the Brooks’ hecklers.
The fact that this is still happening at the NBA level is extremely sad. Many NBA fans argued that Salt Lake City didn’t deserve a team in the first place and incidents like this only add fuel to the fire. It’s clear that a large portion of them are unable to behave themselves at sporting events. If they’re willing to act like this in public, imagine what is said behind closed doors.
dark. Next. What Utah Jazz fans said to Ja Morant's family
Thankfully, Tee Morant specified that a large majority of the fans in Salt Lake City were extremely respectful, which is a good sign. That said, the NBA has had a handful of issues with fans after increasing the capacity at most stadiums. Hopefully, these will be resolved fast.