Memphis' Dillon Brooks needs to be suspended for his cheap shot on Gary Payton II
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Memphis’ Dillon Brooks was ejected three minutes into last night’s Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors after he hit Gary Payton II in the head from behind while Payton was going up for a layup.
The Warriors guard fell awkwardly to the ground and ended up fracturing his elbow on the play and now his status for the rest of the series is in doubt.
Now the NBA needs to do the right thing and suspend Brooks for at least a few games because what he did was not cool at all and severely impacts the Warriors and this tremendous series because Payton is a key defensive player who had the best chance of at least trying to contain Ja Morant, who had 47 points in the Grizzlies’ Game 2 win last night in Memphis.
Here’s the play in case you missed it.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was rightfully furious after the game, saying Brooks “broke the code.”
“I don’t know if it was intentional, but it was dirty,” Kerr said. “There is a code. This code that players follow where you never put a guy’s season career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in midair and clubbing him across the head, ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow… He broke the code. Dillon Brooks “broke the code.”
Kerr was also heard yelling, “Get the (expletive) out of here, Brooks!” moments after the play, according to ESPN.
Brooks’ Flagrant 2 was a lot worse than the soft Flagrant 2 Draymond Green got in Game 1. It was a dirty play that deserves a much more severe penalty than just missing most of last night’s game.
It’s also a play that adds even more storylines to this series that has been a fantastic on thus far. Morant and Co. vs. Steph Curr and Co. has been electric and it should be crazy Saturday night at the Chase Center when the Warriors will look to take a 2-1 series lead at home.
It’s a shame Payton won’t be a part of that game and there’s no way Brooks should be a part of it, too.
We’ll have to wait and see if the NBA agrees.
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(AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
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