Mississauga’s Dillon Brooks not backing down in confrontation with LeBron James: ‘I poke bears’

Mississauga’s Dillon Brooks is back in the spotlight for his antics in the Memphis Grizzlies win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round matchup Wednesday.

Brooks, who some consider the most hated man in the NBA, got into verbal altercations with LeBron James during the game, even staring him down after making a bucket.

“I poke bears,” Brooks told reporters after the game. “I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.”

According to ESPN, Brooks said James told him he was “dumb” for picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter.

“I don’t care — he’s old. You know what I mean?,” Brooks said.

James, for the record, is 38 years old. The NBA all-time leading scorer, both in the regular season and playoffs, continues to defy logic and play at the highest level despite his advanced age.

Brooks couldn’t care less.

“He’s not at the same level that he was when he was on Cleveland winning championships, Miami,” Brooks said after the game. “I wish I got to see that. It would have been a harder task, but I’m playing with what I’ve got.”

Brooks, 27, has built a reputation as an agitator and one of the biggest trash talkers in the league. Earlier in the season, he and teammate Ja Morant had a heated exchange with TV analyst and football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe at a Lakers game, and security had to intervene.

Last year in the Western Conference semifinals, Brooks was suspended for one game by the league for making “unnecessary and excessive contact” that resulted in a fractured elbow for Golden State’s Gary Payton II.

In that series, Brooks and the Warriors’ Draymond Green were jawing at each other on the court and beefing off it — with Brooks calling Green’s podcasting gig “cute” and Green saying Warriors-Grizzlies isn’t a rivalry because Memphis hasn’t won anything.

Brooks led the NBA this season with 18 technical fouls.

Brooks is one of several Canadians making their mark in the NBA playoffs this year.

The 26-year-old had 24 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in Game 1 on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He followed that up with a 40-point performance on Wednesday to give his team a 2-0 advantage. The home crowd game him a rousing ovation when he was subbed in the dying seconds of the game.

He came off the bench in Game 1, and had 17 points, three rebounds and four blocks. He went 1-for-8 from three-point range and missed a potential go-ahead three from the corner in the closing seconds.

He scored 22 points and grabbed five rebounds as a starter in Game 2 but his team is down 2-0 to Sacramento.

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