How Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks became NBA's biggest heel: A history of beefs, fines, fouls and suspensions

Stephen Noh

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How Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks became NBA's biggest heel: A history of beefs, fines, fouls and suspensions image

There's a little bit of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, possibly the most popular WWE wrestler to have ever graced the planet, in Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks.

Brooks has tried to mimic Austin on more than one occasion. He copied Austin's signature outfit before a TNT game. He walked through Fedex Forum's entrance tunnel with that same theatrical swagger.

But while Austin was beloved, Brooks can only play one role — the biggest heel in the NBA.

In the last calendar year alone, Brooks has amassed an impressive resume of angering his fellow members of the association.

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Brooks' war with the Warriors deserves its own paragraph.

He fractured Gary Payton II's elbow in last year's playoffs, causing an enraged Steve Kerr to claim that he "broke the code" of NBA players. He told Klay Thompson that he sucks, prompting Thompson to tell reporters, "When he retires, I don't think anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again." He's gotten into too many wars with Draymond Green to count.

Brooks admitted to ESPN's Tim Keown that he only has "maybe four or five friends" in the league outside of teammates. He has many more enemies.

That enmity toward Brooks is even stronger within NBA fandom. In a Reddit post asking who the most hated player in the NBA was, the five most upvoted comments were all Brooks. Fox Sports commentator Shannon Sharpe was so enraged by Brooks that Sharpe exchanged F-bombs with him before halftime of a game against the Lakers.

Brooks has even been booed on occasion in his home arena.

"Yeah, I get booed everywhere, so it's only right to get booed in Memphis," Brooks said. "I don't really care to be honest. If they want to boo me, they can keep booing me every time I touch it."

The level of vitriol that Brooks gets is every WWE heel's dream. Brooks likes to say that he owns a lot of real estate in people's heads, but he also can't get out of his own.

He's paid almost $250,000 in fines this season, including $35,000 for shoving a Heat cameraman. ("It's just paper," he told The Commercial Appeal.) He's been suspended for two games this season because of excessive technical fouls, and he was suspended for Game 3 of the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals for the flagrant foul on Payton.

"I've got to tone it down and get back to my mindfulness practice and find ways to channel it better," Brooks told The Athletic's Joe Vardon. 

Brooks also has problems controlling himself on offense, occasionally shooting his team out of games. Of the 200 players that play enough to qualify for Basketball Reference's leaderboards, he ranks 196th in true shooting percentage.

That unfettered aggression is the only way that Brooks knows how to play. It comes from a chip on his shoulder the size of Graceland, and it's not going anywhere.

As a junior in high school, Brooks attended Findlay Prep, a talent magnet for prospects with NBA aspirations. He was probably the seventh- or eighth-best player on his team, coming off the bench behind McDonald's All-Americans.

Brooks didn't crack the top 100 of his high school recruiting class. Pinson, on the other hand, was ranked 15 in RSCI rankings. Brooks hasn't forgotten.

"Same class, I grew up watching him play. He was a great basketball player," Brooks said. "Now, he gets paid to cheerlead. I love it."

Brooks reclassified to the Class of 2014, playing three years at Oregon before entering the draft as the type of prospect that nobody wants — an upperclassman with a negative wingspan.

DraftExpress warned of "questions about his ability to defend NBA wings and power forwards." NBADraft.net wrote that it was "uncertain whom he will be able to guard at the next level with his lack of elite length or quickness."

Brooks was selected by the Rockets with the 45th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, then traded to the Grizzlies. He has shattered those pre-draft predictions about his defense like the pane of glass in Austin's theme song.

Per NBA Stats, he held Stephen Curry to 7-of-21 shooting when guarding him this season after Curry shot just 8-of-27 against him in last year's playoffs. Say what you want about him, but there's no denying that he guards superstars about as well as anyone in the league.

There's another thing that Brooks and Austin have in common — they are both willing to do some crazy stuff in order to win. As Austin once noted, "Sportsmanship? What a load of crap. ... You want mercy? Take your ass to church!"

Brooks is shameless in his attempts to bend the rules. He's snuck into an opposing team's huddle to try and steal the play. His flops have earned him a warning from the NBA. Nothing in the history of the game will ever top the flop that he committed in college.

Brooks has his fair share of doubters.

"If you ever wondered why the Memphis Grizzlies are not ready to compete for a championship, look no further than this idiot right here," Green said on his podcast. "They're actually depending on this guy to help them win a championship."

Whether the Grizzlies ever reach that mountaintop with Brooks is anyone's guess. But like with any good heel, everyone will be watching along the way.

Stephen Noh

Stephen Noh Photo

Stephen Noh started writing about the NBA as one of the first members of The Athletic in 2016. He covered the Chicago Bulls, both through big outlets and independent newsletters, for six years before joining The Sporting News in 2022. Stephen is also an avid poker player and wrote for PokerNews while covering the World Series of Poker from 2006-2008.