LeBron James lets his play do the talking in reaction to Dillon Brooks’ jabs

LOS ANGELES – LeBron James approached Dillon Brooks priorto Saturday’s Game 3 at Crypto.com Arena.

It was difficult to hear what he stated. They weren’t mic’d up. But here’s how the discussion appeared.

James talked. Brooks smirked. James appeared to snarl, shaking his head as he kept talking. Brooks shook his head. James gradually backed away, still dealingwith Brooks as he continued to talk.

The subtext was clear: Brooks, the Memphis Grizzlies agitator, poked the incorrect bear with his current garbage talk.

How did the veryfirst quarter go?

The Grizzlies had 9 points, the least by any group in any quarter all season. The Lakers led by as much as 26 points. Over that duration, James had 8 points on 4-for-6 shooting, while Brooks was 0-for-4.

Then, simply 17 seconds into the 2nd half, Brooks swiped at James listedbelow the belt as he dribbled the ball down court. James fell to the ground, twisting in discomfort. Brooks was dealt a Flagrant 2 nasty and ejected.

The capability crowd at Crypto.com Arena enjoyed it. They stood and waved farewell to the badguy who bad-mouthed the mostsignificant star in the videogame, basking in the poetic justice of having the last word as the Lakers went on to win 111-101, taking a 2-1 series lead.

Just 3 days earlier, Brooks had called James “old” and stated he’d just regard him if he scored 40 points versus him following the Grizzlies’ win in Game 2. Brooks had likewise formerly invited a Lakers series, promising to “knock [James] out right away in the veryfirst round.”

The veryfirst indication of what was to come was at Friday’s Lakers practice when James was asked for his reaction. James was very clipped. It was clear he desired to do his talking within the 4 lines.

James didn’t go on to rating 40 points. He didn’t requirement to. He has absolutelynothing to show to Brooks, a man who hasactually made a name for himself with his talk more than his play.

Instead, James played his videogame, completing with 25 points on 50 percent shooting, 9 rebounds and 5 helps. The Lakers were infact led by Anthony Davis, who had 31 points and 17 rebounds.

What made this scenario uncommon is James isn’t a man who frequently gets openly trash-talked by other present gamers. That’s why what Brooks did stood out so much.

When James was asked about the disrespect, he yet onceagain selected not to engage.

“At the end of the day, I believe my resume and what I’ve done for this league speaks for itself,” he stated. “I puton’t actually get captured up in any remarks like that.”

When asked whether Brooks isworthyof to be suspended for Game 4 for his below-the-belt swipe, James didn’t include himself.

“I wear’t understand,” he stated. “I’m not a part of that committee. If he’s in the lineup, out of the lineup, we’ve got to prepare no matter what.”

As for his discussion with Brooks pregame, when asked if they goneover the disrespect independently, he let individuals draw their own conclusions from that interaction.

“It wasn’t personal,” he stated. “Because everyone captured it. Everybody saw that.”

Lakers fans, nevertheless, made their viewpoint on the matter extremely clear.

When Brooks warmed up, they cheered every time he missedouton a shot. When he strolled off the court following his warm-up, they booed. And throughout the videogame, they ridiculed him whenever they might, while hugely cheering for James.

The exceptionally uneven veryfirst quarter was enough for the Lakers to stave off the Grizzlies regardlessof Ja Morant scoring a excessive 24 of his 45 points in the last duration to cut their deficit to as coupleof as 9 points.

For the Lakers, they had currently set the tone. And they did it with so much strength and force that there was no coming back for the Grizzlies.

As for James, he plainly dealtwith Brooks in his own method.

Privately, he took care of organization. Publicly, he let the crowd and his colleagues do the talking for him.

Then he seen Brooks self-destruct under the pressure of it all.

Brooks decreased to talk to the media after Game 3, lastly silenced.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA author for FOX Sports. She formerly covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.