Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Darvin Ham Unload on Dillon Brooks After Loss to Rockets
Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was ejected from Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets following a back-and-forth exchange with Dillon Brooks. The incident was strange, as the two pushed each other a bit, and then Vanderbilt gave one extra shove, leading to the officials giving him a technical.
Immediately after, Vanderbilt was responding to what Brooks was saying and reached a hand out toward his head. He was given his second technical and ejected while Brooks continued with the game. Following the loss, Vanderbilt’s teammate Anthony Davis and head coach Darvin Ham defended the forward while calling out Brooks.
The Lakers' Jarred Vanderbilt was ejected from Monday night's game vs. the Rockets after this interaction with Dillon Brooks.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 30, 2024
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“It’s not a safe play,” Anthony Davis said of Brooks’ foul on Vanderbilt, as The Athletic reported. “Guys get hurt like that. And you got to know what type of player he is. You kind of let that just keep going on and he kind of provoked it. He talks and says whatever he wants to the refs, to players. And at the end of the day, we’re men. No man is going to talk towards another man the way he was talking to Vando. So, Vando did what he had to do.”
The comments from Ham were just as pointed, as he initially praised Vanderbilt, stating, “My hat’s off to Vando” for standing up for himself. The Los Angeles coach then proceeded to suggest that Brooks should have potentially been ejected as well.
“It’s hard to control yourself, man,” Ham said. “Maybe Dillon Brooks shouldn’t have been in the game either.”
Brooks signed a four-year, $80 million contract with Houston as a free agent this offseason and has had a few run-ins with the Lakers in recent years. Specifically, calling LeBron James “old” while doing his best to trash-talk the future Hall-of-Famer throughout the postseason series between the two teams last season.
While the Lakers went on to win that playoff series 4–2, the Rockets got the best of them on Monday, picking up a 135-119 victory. Brooks finished the night with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three rebounds.