The boos started in the third quarter after Dillon Brooks airballed an open 3-pointer. It continued after the Memphis Grizzlies guard missed another on a no-look pass from Ja Morant.
Brooks has been mired in a slump since January and some fans at FedExForum couldn’t hide their disapproval. There were more boos when he checked back in during the fourth quarter although they were replaced with brief cheers after Brooks hit a 3-pointer.
Brooks didn’t mind as he stood in front of his locker after the Grizzlies’ 104-89 win over the Chicago Bulls. It was just another day being the type of player he is in his sixth NBA season.
“Yeah, I get booed everywhere. It’s only right that I get booed in Memphis. I don’t really care to be honest,” said Brooks after shooting 2-for-12 from the field. “If they want to boo me, they can keep booing me every time I touch it,” Brooks said.
Morant supported Brooks with a pair of postgame tweets. The first read “real ones don’t boo players, smh” while the second was a picture of Morant with Brooks saying “forever witcha” with a 100 emoji.
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Brooks is a free agent after this season and has been the subject of trade speculation with Thursday’s trade deadline coming up. Entering Tuesday, he’s averaged just 11.3 points on 35.3% shooting since Jan. 1 and overall, he’s shooting a career-worst 39.5% from the field this season.
If a trade comes, he wasn’t worried because it’s happened before. The Grizzlies traded for his draft rights in 2017 from the Houston Rockets. In Dec. 2018, Brooks was nearly traded in a three-team deal involving the Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns. However, there was confusion over if it was Dillon Brooks or MarShon Brooks in the deal and the trade was called off.
Brooks said that he hasn’t been told anything about his future by the front office. Despite the boos, he’s fine with whether or not Tuesday was his last game in a Grizzlies uniform.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m six years in. I’ve been half-traded, in the trade talks, at draft trade talks, it doesn’t matter to me,” Brooks said. “I know wherever I go, wherever I play at, my (expletive) translates.”
