Dillon Brooks has been a thorn in the Lakers’ side ever since he initiated a beef with LeBron James in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Now playing for the Suns, Brooks is set to match up with LeBron James and the Lakers once again tonight. But this time, a very different Dillon Brooks could enter the Crypto.com Arena.
According to seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, the Lakers need to watch out for Dillon Brooks, who could be the catalyst for a Suns win tonight. While the scouting report is probably focused on guarding Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks has quietly become a much better offensive threat than he was when he played with the Grizzlies.
Horry appeared on Spectrum Sportsnet after the Lakers beat the Pelicans 133-121 to give his postgame analysis, where he spoke his mind on Dillon Brooks.
“Dillon the Villain is the key to that team. He’s playing like he was when he first got into the league. He was trying to be a basketball player instead of being a bully,” said Horry while previewing the Lakers’ upcoming game against the Suns.
“For me, he went through those periods where he started believing, I want to be a bully, try to be like Draymond Green, but now he’s back to playing basketball.”
“So you really have to worry about this dude. He still has some things you don’t like about him, but I think he’s been the biggest catalyst for the way this team has been playing because he’s been playing really good basketball,” Horry concluded.
Brooks is currently averaging a career-high 21.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists after his first 15 games in the 2025-26 season. He is currently also shooting a career-high 45.1% from the field in this duration. His three-point shooting has also significantly improved, and he’s now a threat on the offensive end of the floor, both inside and outside the three-point line.
It is a hilarious coincidence that Horry chose the Draymond Green comparison just days after Brooks threw shade at the Warriors veteran and took Kenyon Martin’s side in their newly brewing beef when he claimed that there are at least 200 players better than Green in league history.
This shows that, on occasion, Brooks does not hesitate to be at odds with his opponents. But now, his game backs his talk as well. Over his past few seasons since he left a toxic atmosphere on the Grizzlies, Brooks has been more focused on letting his game do the talking instead of him.
Of course, he’s still a defensive menace on the floor, but on the offensive end, he has become a lot more patient and better at execution than he was before. Thus explaining why the Lakers need to be wary of him tonight.
