Lakers News: LA Champ Defends Game 3 Play That Got Dillon Brooks Ejected
One former Los Angeles Lakers champion offered up some sympathetic insight into Memphis Grizzlies irritant Dillon Brooks' chippy on- and off-court behavior this spring.
Metta Sandiford-Artest, the artist formerly known as Metta World Peace or Ron Artest, recently chopped it up with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson on his Scoop B Blog about the Game 3 moment that could have ultimately finalized the fate of the Lakers' ongoing series against the depleted Grizzlies, which Los Angeles leads 3-1.
James was hit in a very sensitive area by Brooks just 17 seconds into the third quarter of Game 3, which Memphis never led. Referees quickly ejected Brooks, and LA went on to win by 10. Last night, the Lakers picked up their second straight home win.
In his day, Sandiford-Artest was a terrific wing defender who occasionally irked his charges. He was the starting small forward on the 2009-10 champion Los Angeles Lakers, replacing Trevor Ariza -- who had departed in free agency.
“I’m riding with LeBron because I’m a big LeBron fan so let’s just start there,” Sandiford-Artest told Robinson in a phone call.
“But I feel like that I don’t think that he meant to hit him in the nuts but I did think that he was overaggressive you know? I want to be cautious with my words because I’ve been through the same stuff, you know what I’m sayin? But, I think that he was aggressive and I think sometimes when you’re overaggressive, you really can’t control how your body moves. Your arm might swing another way by mistake but since you know you’re not really in control, you might pop somebody in the head by mistake. But it looked like it was on purpose because of how it looked so it’s stuff like that it’s like, Man! If you could just keep your head in the game…”
“I’m always looking for people like hotheads to keep their heads in the game because that makes me happy to see a hothead keep their heads in a game because it just shows that it can be done,” he continued.
“So I always like pushing for guys and like to stay focused and finish your career off strong man! Here I am with a bunch of four-year-olds and STILL one of the BEST defenders to ever do it and I don’t got everything that I should’ve got, you know what I’m sayin’? I don’t got all the awards that I should’ve got because I’m out there doing stupid shit. So I would just encourage those guys to finish your career off strong man and hopefully I can talk to those guys soon.”
As his conversation with Robinson continued into a supplemental article, Sandiford-Artest revealed why he had been taking such a shine to Brooks' game:
“I like his energy. Sometimes he reminds me of myself,” Sandiford-Artest revealed. “But sometimes you can go overboard and this is the thing about Dillon like, before his career is over he’s going to want to build on it without it being taken away. So he’s going to have to figure out how to play aggressively, still be intimidating but keeping your mind in the game, you know what I’m sayin’? Because when you’re fouling people you’re putting people in the bonus. When you’re committing silly fouls, you’re putting them in the bonus.”
Sandiford-Artest was honored as an All-Star, the Defensive Player of the Yar and named to the 2004 All-NBA Third Team in 2004 while with the Indiana Pacers. He was also a four-time All-Defensive Team honoree throughout his 17-year pro career. He spent six seasons with the Kobe Bryant-era Lakers. Upon retiring, he served as a player development coach for LA's NBAGL affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, from 2017-18.
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