Lakers' LeBron James Says 'You Can't Disrespect' Dillon Brooks: 'He Makes Shots'

The Los Angeles Lakers are officially in the 2023 NBA playoffs after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night in the play-in tournament, clinching a first-round matchup against Dillon Brooks and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Brooks said Tuesday that he "wouldn't mind" playing LeBron James and the Lakers in a first-round series because it would be "a good first-round matchup" for the Grizzlies and because Memphis would "knock him out right away."

James responded to those comments while speaking with reporters after L.A.'s play-in tournament victory over Minnesota on Tuesday.

"Dillon Brooks ... you can't disrespect him because he makes shots," James said as he ran through the Memphis lineup, listing each player's assets in the process.

Brooks had a solid regular season for Memphis, averaging 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 73 games while shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and 32.6 percent from beyond the arc.

However, the Purple and Gold likely won't place too much of a focus on Brooks during their upcoming first-round matchup against the Grizzlies because they'll have to give more attention to players like Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr.

In three games against the Lakers during the regular season, Brooks averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 24.4 percent from the floor and 30 percent from deep.

While Memphis is favored to win the series, Brooks still shouldn't be too confident that the Grizzlies will knock James and Co. out of the playoffs early.

L.A. is 8-2 in its last 10 games and has been playing well with a healthy James and Davis in the lineup. They're both coming off impressive performances in the play-in tournament. James finished Tuesday's game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Davis notched 24 points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

The emergence of Austin Reaves over the second half of the season has also helped propel the Lakers forward, and players like Dennis Schröder, Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt are more than capable of being an effective supporting cast.

Things are probably going to have to line up perfectly for the Lakers to move on, but they still shouldn't be taken lightly.

Game 1 between the Lakers and Grizzlies is set for Sunday at FedExForum.