Dear basketball gods: We need another Warriors vs. Grizzlies playoff series this April. Please. (It’s lining up for a possible 2/7 or 6/3 matchup.)
Mainly because we need more of the Klay Thompson and Dillon Brooks beef, which was on full display Saturday.
The Grizzlies easily handled the Warriors — who have now lost 11 straight on the road — and Brooks was savoring the moment and talking trash, so Thompson went Kobe and reminded him about the ring count.
Klay making sure everyone knows he still has four rings pic.twitter.com/NUopoRtemj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 19, 2023
Brooks laughed it off after the game (hat tip Evan Barnes at the Commercial Appeal).
“He’s got four rings. That’s all he was saying. It’s motivation to us,” Brooks said. “We want a ring as well. Being able to go through the process of steps that we did last year, we keep going and learning from it all.
“It’s friendly trash talk, but I just hold a lot of real estate over there in San Francisco.”
Thompson responded:
“I don’t care about Dillon Brooks,” Thompson said. “When he retires, I don’t think anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again. I promise you. It’s sweet right now, but wait 10 years.”
Brooks enjoys being the antagonist, particularly against the Warriors, he’s already got a beef going with Draymond Green. While Brooks can take it a little too far at points, he is at the heart of what NBC Sports’ Corey Robinson describes as the “punk rock” attitude of Memphis — which is both part of what fuels them and part of what can at times undercut their discipline.
As for the Warriors, the four in the past can’t help them this season if they can’t figure out how to win some games on the road.
Whatever the outcome, seven games between these sides is what we need this postseason.
