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Dillon Brooks was acquired by the Suns July 6, 2025.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n PHOENIX \u2014 The technical fouls. The trash-talking. The scuffling. The obvious question to those who have coached Dillon Brooks deals with all that. As in, have you ever asked him to tone it down?<\/p>\n David McClure coached Brooks for four seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. Asked this, he brought up working in the video room earlier in his career with the San Antonio Spurs. One night, he was among those invited to dinner with then-coach Gregg Popovich. The Spurs in those years were methodical and structured. Everyone except Manu Ginobili. He was a little more \u201cchaotic,\u201d McClure said, recalling the dinner.<\/p>\n Pop said that night: \u201cI have to kind of let Manu be Manu. I have to give him a little bit more leeway than the rest of the players because a muzzled Manu isn\u2019t special.\u201d<\/p>\n Keith Smart coached Brooks during his rookie season in Memphis, long before Brooks had established himself. Still, the edge and toughness were there. Smart kept up with Brooks through the years, watching his games and texting him observations and reminders. Asked if he\u2019s ever told Brooks to chill, Smart brought up something former Georgetown coach John Thompson once told him.<\/p>\n \u201cKeith,\u201d Thompson said, \u201cyou can always calm down a fool, but you can never raise a dead man.\u201d<\/p>\n Translation: \u201cYou can always tell a player to calm down some,\u201d Smart said, \u201cbut when you have to constantly tell a player \u2014\u00a0Come on, man. Play hard. Compete\u00a0\u2014 you\u2019re going to run out of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Entering his ninth season, Brooks is among the headliners of\u00a0the Phoenix Suns\u2019 summer reboot, acquired with athletic guard Jalen Green and others in\u00a0a blockbuster trade\u00a0with the Houston Rockets for superstar Kevin Durant. Phoenix\u2019s intent was to get bigger, younger and more athletic. But the Suns also wanted to get tougher, especially on defense. Those who have worked with Brooks insist few are better.<\/p>\n This may take time. Not for Brooks, but for Phoenix fans. Throughout their history, the Suns have had elite scorers, gifted passers and decent defenders. They have not had many irritators, guys who lived to get inside an opponent\u2019s head. Dennis Awtrey (1970s), Maurice Lucas (1980s) and Danny Ainge (1990s) all could annoy or intimidate, but not at this level.<\/p>\n Over the last three regular seasons, Brooks, 29, has earned a league-high 49 technical fouls. Last season he was T\u2019d up for barking at officials, sticking up for teammates, taunting, pushing, flopping and hanging on the rim. In March, he was ejected in Phoenix after a dust-up with Durant. In a first-round playoff matchup against Golden State, he beefed with Jimmy Butler and was accused of targeting Stephen Curry\u2019s sore thumb.<\/p>\n At a\u00a0brief media session\u00a0during NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Brooks described his style as \u201cno bull\u2014,\u201d adding he doesn\u2019t back down from anybody or any situation. He said he couldn\u2019t wait for Suns fans to cheer next season after his first technical foul, which shows the power of a uniform change. As The Boston Globe wrote in 1986, \u201cvillainy is in the eye of the beholder.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a bad reputation to have,\u201d said former NBA guard Nick Van Exel, who coached Brooks in Memphis, where Brooks spent his first six seasons before spending the last two in Houston. \u201cA lot of guys go through their whole career and nobody knows anything about them. You know Dillon Brooks because of his tenacity on defense. You know when he\u2019s on the court. He has a presence.\u201d<\/p>\n The Athletic\u00a0talked with seven NBA coaches who have worked with Brooks. What amazed many is that Brooks \u2014 who has earned just one All-Defense nod (second team in 2023) \u2014 isn\u2019t more respected as a defender, especially because of his versatility. McClure recalled a short Memphis stretch during which the 6-foot-6 Brooks defended then-Washington wing Bradley Beal, Portland guard Damian Lillard and New Orleans forward Zion Williamson. Memphis had others who matched up better against the bulldozer-like Williamson, but Brooks told the coaching staff: \u201cI want him.\u201d<\/p>\n During Blake Ahearn\u2019s four years in Memphis, the most common question he got from outsiders dealt with Ja Morant, the rising superstar. The second:\u00a0What\u2019s Dillon Brooks like?<\/p>\n Ahearn recalled his first season as an assistant coach. It was the 2020-21 season, and Memphis was locked in a Play-In Tournament battle with Golden State. The winner secured the Western Conference\u2019s eighth seed, the loser was eliminated. At one point in the contest, then-Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins subbed out Brooks for a quick breather.<\/p>\n Ahearn had done the scout for Golden State, and he was nervous. He knew how quickly Curry could catch fire. He needed Brooks on the floor.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you ready?\u201d Ahearn asked him on the bench.<\/p>\n \u201cDude, just give me like one minute and I\u2019m good,\u201d Brooks said, according to Ahearn.<\/p>\n Ahearn let 30 seconds pass. \u201cAre you \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Brooks didn\u2019t wait for the entire question. He got up and walked to the scorer\u2019s table. Brooks played 45 minutes that night. Memphis won in overtime.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re giving a scout, you could ask Dillon about the best player,\u201d Ahearn said. \u201cYou could also ask him about the 13th player \u2014 Dillon will be able to give you a full scouting report on\u00a0everybody. His attention to detail and how he prepares in order to guard guys is special. \u2026 I just respect the heck out of him that night-in and night-out he wants that matchup, and he\u2019s not going to back down from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Memphis assistant Brad Jones said Brooks is outstanding on the ball, but what separates him is focus. Luka Doncic could score on him on four consecutive possessions, and on the fifth, Brooks would be just as determined as the first. While some coaches might panic and make defensive changes, the Memphis staff knew it could stick with its coverage because Brooks eventually would figure it out.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the best things I think you can say about him is he plays 82 games and he comes out every night like it\u2019s the last game he\u2019s going to play,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n Brooks brought the same commitment and energy to practice. Memphis often scheduled practice at 11:30 a.m. and had time slots available so players could get treatment or hit the weight room. Usually, the rookies and younger players took the earlier times to let the vets come in later. Brooks, however, grabbed the early slots so he could get in more work.<\/p>\n There were outbursts. Former Memphis assistant Scoonie Penn recalled Brooks delivering a hard foul during a lackadaisical practice. Words were exchanged. Brooks yelled at video staffers who were officiating \u2014 and practice changed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he did was, he raised the level of competition,\u201d Penn said. \u201cHe got angry \u2026 but at the same time it lifted everybody up. Because, obviously, it\u2019s a long season. You have times when it\u2019s up and down. It might be dead. You need that extra. Dillon brings that extra.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Mazarei was around Brooks for only his first two seasons in Memphis, but he said not much has changed. From the start, Brooks was an NBA second-round draft pick who carried himself like a lottery pick. Ultra-competitive. Uber-confident. Put in the work. Trust his game. And look where it\u2019s gotten him.<\/p>\n \u201cPhoenix is getting a dude,\u201d Mazarei said. \u201cHis toughness, his edge, his confidence. He\u2019s a guy you want on your team, no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Doug Haller<\/a>\u00a0is a senior writer based in Arizona. He previously worked 13 years at The Arizona Republic, where he covered three Final Fours and four football national championship games. He is a five-time winner of the Arizona Sportswriter of the Year award.\u00a0Follow Doug on Twitter\u00a0@DougHaller<\/a><\/p>\n