Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks on Confrontation with LeBron James: 'I Don't Care, He's Old'

Dillon Brooks may want to go back and watch some old Lance Stephenson tape before he antagonizes LeBron James too much in the early going of a playoff series.

But for one night on Wednesday, he and the Memphis Grizzlies earned bragging rights with a 103-93 victory over the King's Los Angeles Lakers to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

Brooks notably stared down James and had something of a back-and-forth during the game. He also didn't back down afterward.

"I don't care," Brooks told reporters when discussing the 38-year-old James. "He's old. … I poke bears. I don't respect no one till they come and give me 40."

LeBron didn't score 40, but he was a bright spot for the Lakers with 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell shot a combined 6-of-25 from the field. Even with Ja Morant sidelined, the Lakers weren't going to walk into Memphis in something of a must-win game for the home team and steal another victory with shooting performances like that from their second and third options.

Now Brooks and James will be something of a story within the story as this series continues, but the Oregon product wasn't backing down from the challenge even before the postseason.

"I wouldn't mind playing LeBron in a seven-game series," he said.

"The legacy is there. First time back in the playoffs, knock him out right away in the first round. It'll test us good. They got good pieces, good players, and that'll be a good first-round matchup for us."

Brooks might not be afraid to poke the bear, but neither was Lance Stephenson when he blew in LeBron's ear, Paul Pierce when he battled the King in the postseason a number of times and plenty of other rival foes throughout his legendary career.

Most of those back-and-forths all ended up with James prevailing and adding to his legacy.

Perhaps Brooks can change that pattern now that, as he puts it, the Lakers star is "old."