Dillon Brooks, Suns head coach recount Brooks’ career night
Phoenix Suns’ Dillon Brooks scored a career high 40 points in an upset win over the Eastern Conference leading Detroit Pistons on Jan. 29.
NBA analyst Reggie Miller loves some Dillon Brooks and the career season he’s having in his first year with the Phoenix Suns.
“I’m happy for him, but he’s still a bad boy, which I love,” said Miller, an analyst for NBC Sports. “At the end of the day, he’s still a bad boy and that will never leave him, and I think that’s the Phoenix Suns’ identity.”
Receiving a one-game suspension for already racking 16 technical fouls before the All-Star break validates the “villain,” nickname, but Brooks has a fan in Miller.
The Hall of Famer has enjoyed seeing Brooks’ impact on the Suns and feels the veteran forward was deserving of an NBA All-Star nod, but he explained why that didn’t happen.
“Deserving, yes, but let’s be real here,” said Miller during an NBC Sports media conference call Feb. 12 before NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. “The All-Star game is about stars, and he wasn’t going to make it as a guard in the West over a lot of guys that are superstars.”
Miller brought up Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green to make the point that Brooks too is a winner, but he has more work to do.
“You can say what you want about Draymond Green, those dudes get results,” Miller said. “They can get in your head, they can disrupt you, they make it a spectacle, but they understand how to win ball games and I think that’s the only thing left for Dillon Brooks is he’s going to have to have this type of success come playoff time because he’s done it in the regular season.”
Brooks has only been on one team that has advanced past the first round once in his four postseason runs. The Grizzlies reached the second round in the 2022 playoffs before falling in six games to the Warriors, who won the NBA championship that season.
“Draymond has done it in the regular season and playoffs and is a four-time champ,” Miller said. “I think Dillon Brooks now has to do it in the playoffs and be consistent about it.”
Understandable, but Brooks was one of the more notable All-Star snubs this season.
“If you’re talking impact, then Dillon Brooks absolutely had an All-Star case,” said NBC Sports studio analyst Carmelo Anthony, a Hall of Famer, on the media call.
“He’s been the defensive tone setter for the Suns. He’s guarded the toughest matchups every single night and he’s scoring at a career-best level.”
Brooks is averaging a career-high 21.2 points this season and has been a major reason the Suns have established a culture of playing hard, physical, aggressive and defending.
Anthony recognizes all of this, but being a 10-time All-Star himself, he understands what it means to receive that honor year after year.
“All-Star isn’t just about defense,” Anthony said. “We complain about that too, but All-Star isn’t just about defense. It’s production, it’s the narrative, it’s where the team is at. Did he deserve a strong consideration? Yes. Was he a lock? I think that’s where the debate starts.”
Miller called Brooks one of “his favorite players” because of how he approaches the game.
“You think about all the teams he’s been on, they’ve won and they’ve been so good defensively,” Miller said. “Obviously in Memphis. He goes to Houston, they’re better defensively. They’re tougher.”
Phoenix landed Brooks from the Rockets in the Kevin Durant trade. The Suns were expected to have a down year after moving Durant and buying out Bradley Beal, but they’re seventh in the West and nine games above .500 with Brooks being the catalyst.
Tenth in the NBA in defensive rating, Phoenix is just two games out of the fourth seed in the West behind Houston.
“He gets traded for whatever reason to Phoenix and with Kevin Durant departing, everyone thinks this is going to be somewhat of a gap year, a slow progression to get back in it and the Phoenix Suns are lights out and playing great basketball in a very loaded Western Conference and a lot of that has to do with Dillon Brooks,” Miller said.
Brooks scored a career-high 40 points in Phoenix’s 114-96 upset of East-leader Detroit on Jan. 29 without five-time All-Star Devin Booker and Jalen Green.
“He has shown he can score the basketball,” Miller said. “I’ve kind of raised an eyebrow at some of his stats in some of his games, but it also lets you know he’s been in the lab, too. I think he played a role in Memphis and in Houston and I think looking at the Phoenix Suns and the opportunity that he saw on this roster, he could expand his game, which he has.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
