Dillon Brooks on play that injured Gary Payton II: ‘If I were to take it back, I would’
SAN FRANCISCO — Dillon Brooks would like to put the play that injured Gary Payton II behind him.
“It’s in the past,” he said Monday. “I didn’t mean for it to hurt somebody.”
It’s unlikely, however, the Warriors and their fans will let Brooks forget the egregious foul he committed against Payton in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals that possibly ended the Warriors guard’s season.
Brooks talked Monday for the first time since Payton broke his elbow after a hard foul by the Grizzlies forward that sparked a debate about the NBA’s unspoken code.
Brooks was ejected after he wound up and hit Payton in the head as the guard soared through the air early in the first quarter Tuesday night. The contact caused Payton to crash onto his left arm.
The play had the Warriors fuming both when it occurred and after the game, with coach Steve Kerr saying Brooks “broke the code” and Stephen Curry saying the foul was “out of line.” The league suspended Brooks for Game 3 on Saturday night for making “unnecessary and excessive contact” in his foul of Payton, who’s out for at least two weeks.
After shootaround Monday, Brooks, 26, defended his actions saying he was “just trying to make a play on the ball.” He said he “was running full speed and I jumped and he adjusted” when he hit Payton, who is about four inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter than the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Brooks.
Brooks hasn’t spoken to Payton or anyone from the Warriors since the incident, though he offered remorse for the foul.
“If I were to take it back, I would,” he said. “But it’s in the past.”
Brooks, the 45th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft out of Oregon, said he had “no reaction” to Kerr accusing him of breaking “the code” when he went after Payton from behind while he was already airborne.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Brooks said. “It’s the playoffs. Every bucket, every basket, every possession, every play counts. So I didn’t understand that.”
After a reporter explained to Brooks what Kerr meant, the Grizzlies swingman said: “It’s a fast-paced game, stuff happens. Guys jump up in the air and guys can contest shots and sometimes the [way a] play is, you fall down and [Payton tried] to brace his fall with his arm. It’s a tough play. Like I said before, I would take it back if I could but can’t do that.”
Brooks is anticipating he’ll be the target of the crowd’s taunts and boos Monday night when the Grizzlies try to even the best-of-seven series, which Golden State leads 2-1. That won’t prevent him from playing his physical style. If anything, he said, the energy from the home fans will motivate him.
“I like being booed, I like guys against me, it gets me going even more,” he said. “I already know it’s going to come. So it doesn’t faze me at all. ”
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins offered Brooks some advice on how to handle the raucous crowd.
“Everything in the past is in the past, focus on tonight. Come out, be a tone setter for us, play the best DB version basketball,” Jenkins said he told Brooks. “That’s what we’re gonna need on both ends of the floor.”