Akron native LeBron James seemed to have the final say in Dillon Brooks when the Los Angeles Lakers ushered the Memphis Grizzlies out of the playoffs last week.
brookswho referred to James as “old” or “tired” at various points during the playoffsfound himself in the NBA’s version of the unemployment line on Tuesday after the Grizzlies He informed him during his season-ending exit interview that he would not return to the team after six seasons.
Ouch.
The Grizzlies are the only team Brooks has ever played for and his back and forth with James combined with his unprofessional behavior and unavailability for post-game interviews (which cost him $25,000) seem to have done him the trick.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall Sunday when Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman refused to talk about Brooks’ future with the team.
“I think there were definitely distractions of our own making that we were navigating this series,” he said. “As we look ahead and think about what happens next, those are all things we’ll keep in mind from a competitive standpoint.”
Aspiration apparently started Tuesday and distraction? Um… badass bear?
In other words: You still don’t pull on a Superman cape.
This article originally appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal: Did focus on trash talk LeBron James cost Dillon Brooks in Memphis?