Dillon Brooks and the Suns are set to face the Rockets tonight at Toyota Center in Houston. Before he arrived at the arena, Brooks appeared for an interview with ESPN, where he spoke about embracing the villain role instead of hating it. The Suns veteran believes he is living his life with Kobe Bryant’s philosophy.
“I’ve been taking it on. It’s like what Kobe said, having the black mamba in between the lines and being Kobe Bryant outside of the lines,” explained Brooks.
“I’ve been living that, it’s been giving me a lot of energy, clarity, and when I come between those lines, it’s about just Dillon the Villain, being who I am and expressing every single facet of my game,” Brooks further explained his regained confidence in the game. “I like it. It’s pretty cool. It rhymes, when a nickname rhymes, it should be pretty good,” he concluded on his nickname.
Brooks led the Suns with 29 points, three rebounds, and one steal while shooting 11-of-22 from the field (50%) when they faced his former team, the Rockets, last month in Phoenix. Despite calling out the Rockets and the officials after their last matchup, Brooks fondly looked forward to facing his former teammates once again.
Following the Suns’ shootaround before the Rockets game, Brooks spoke to the media about his time with the Rockets, what he expects on his return to Houston, and his former head coach, Ime Udoka.
However, when asked about his former head coach, his anticipation was combined with a sense of competition, as he hoped to maintain his extreme competitive intensity while facing him.
The Suns veteran recalled his interaction with his former head coach after their last game and said that he hopes to repeat the same intensity today. He hilariously also added that he hopes to entice Udoka into a technical foul in today’s game.
Ime Udoka & Dillon Brooks. 🤣
(h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 25, 2025
“Probably. Hope there is another one today and he doesn’t look away so he can lose $2,500 himself,” said Brooks on whether he anticipated the intensity he faced from Ime Udoka in the last game, while hilariously referring to the usual fine for technical fouls.
As the Suns lost 92-114 in their last game against the Rockets, Brooks is hoping to be the catalyst for the Suns stealing a win against his former team.
Dillon Brooks Shows Gratitude To Rockets For Reviving His Career
The former Rockets player is currently having the best season of his NBA career with the Suns. He is averaging a career-high 22.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 46.3% from the field.
“They gave me more of a chance to showcase myself and not limit my game and what I can do. They gave me another shot with what I wanted, and I’m appreciative always,” said Brooks when addressing his time on the Rockets.
At a time when almost none of the teams in the league wanted him, the Rockets offered him a four-year, $80 million deal as a chance to revive his career after low demand in free agency. Upon his return, Brooks believes he would get a reaction from the Toyota Center audience in Houston only if the Suns beat the Rockets.
“Feels good, feels like home. A lot of people have said, ‘What’s up?’ Friendly cheers. I’m ready to play the game,” said Brooks on his arrival back at the Toyota Center.
After shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc last season to lead the Rockets in efficiency from three-point range, it was clear that Brooks had severely improved his game from what it was two seasons before that with the Grizzlies. He personally seemed to believe he was in an atmosphere where he was not allowed to excel on the offensive end of the floor when he was in Memphis.
But when he joined the Rockets, he realized he had found a head coach in Ime Udoka with the same philosophy as him, and it changed the way he played and worked towards improving his game. Therefore, he remains grateful to the Rockets franchise to this day.
