Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks Suspended 1 Game for Hitting Donovan Mitchell in Groin
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks has been suspended for one game without pay and Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was fined $20,000 in response to their on-court spat on Thursday night, the NBA announced Friday.
Both players were ejected from the game, a 128-113 win for the Cavs.
The altercation started after Brooks fell to the floor following a missed layup attempt. He then rolled toward Mitchell and swung his arm up, hitting Mitchell in the groin. The Cleveland star responded by throwing the ball at Brooks and pushing him, and things escalated as players and staff rushed in separate the pair.
Mitchell, unsurprisingly, was not pleased after the game.
"That's just who he is," Mitchell said of Brooks. "We've seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I've been busting his ass for years. Playoffs, regular season. The one game he does an alright job on me today he decides to do something like that. There's no place for that in the game. You've got to protect yourself at the end of the day. This has been brewing for years."
Ja Morant felt differently.
"We don't got no history with nobody," he told reporters. "We don't beef with nobody."
Mitchell wasn't the only person on the Cavaliers—or in the media—who felt a certain way about Brooks' cheap shot:
That reaction wasn't surprising. The Grizzlies have developed a reputation as a brash, scrappy and trash-talking bunch in recent seasons, though Brooks' actions clearly veered outside of playing with an edge and instead crossed a line.
But while Brooks and the rest of the Grizzlies refused to talk about the incident, Morant said he believes the Grizzlies are often viewed in a different light as other teams around the NBA.
"Anything when it comes to negative about the Grizzlies, we normally, you know, get the punishment," he told reporters. "It ain't the same. They [the NBA] hate us."
Brooks' actions on Thursday won't help in that regard.
