Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies will go their separate ways this summer.
In something of a stunning report, Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed on Tuesday that Memphis wouldn’t welcome the much-maligned forward back in 2023-24 “under any circumstances.”
“After his tumultuous end to the season, Brooks was told about the Grizzlies‘ decision to move on in exit meetings with team officials in recent days,” the report read.
“Memphis and Brooks discussed in exit meetings that it’s best for both sides to have a fresh start, sources added.”
Brooks had been the subject of much ridicule and condemnation after his trash talk in the Grizzlies’ first-round series against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers led to them getting upset by the No. 7 seed.
Still, everyone assumed that at the very least his own team would stick by him. Turns out – even they didn’t want him.
Shortly after Charania’s report, additional details came out about Brooks’ split with the Grizzlies.
According to Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Brooks rankled some within his organization by asking for a bigger role within the team’s structure – specifically on offense.
“I don’t think I lost any thing on the offensive end,” Brooks apparently said. “I was just there to three-and-D, shoot and play defense. I got way more to my game than that.”
Beyond that, when Grizzlies brass asked him to tone down the trash talk, he refused.
‘A notable takeaway from Sunday’s exit interviews was how Morant, Kleiman and Taylor Jenkins noted a desire to tone down the trash-talking ways, and it was in stark juxtaposition to Brooks saying it’s a part of who he is and his competitive nature,” Cole added.
If it feels like Brooks can’t stop taking Ls at the moment, it’s because he definitely can’t.
Just when everyone thought his walk of shame from the most recent Lakers game was a low point, the Grizzlies shun him.
Kuz is having himself a wild offseason. https://t.co/F35NGb9m1N
— Game 7 (@game7__) May 2, 2023
Yikes.
Where will Brooks ultimately end up playing next season? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
