Dillon Brooks reminded everyone he still dislikes LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers were run out of their own gym by the Phoenix Suns on Monday. They committed 10 of their 22 turnovers in the second quarter when they were outscored 35-21, and it resulted in a 125-108 loss that snapped their seven-game winning streak.

The man who did the most damage to Los Angeles was Dillon Brooks, who hit 15 of his 26 shot attempts and scored 33 points. At one point late in the game, LeBron James, who had just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, was seen talking to some Suns players on the bench, and Brooks admitted after the game that didn't like it.

“I’m a competitor, man,” Brooks said. “I don’t really like the smiling and giggling and all that. Just letting him know that I’m here and I’m still rising.”

Brooks tried to make himself an antagonist to James in 2023 when the Lakers faced his Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. James and crew got the last laugh then, as they won the series in six games, and Brooks also had some words about the future Hall of Famer on Monday.

“He likes people that want to bow down,” Brooks said. “I don’t bow down. That either entices him or aggravates him, either or.”

Brooks is scoring a lot more this season with the upstart Suns than he previously did with Memphis or the Houston Rockets, when he was more of a role player and spot-up shooter. Monday's 33-point performance raised his scoring average for this season to 22.3 points a game, which is a career high for him.

But it is clear that James continues to live rent-free in his mind after all this time.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Dillon Brooks reminded everyone he still dislikes LeBron James