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Dillon Brooks Reflects on Success with Canada After Backlash Amid Grizzlies Rumors
Nobody may have enjoyed Canada's 127-118 overtime win over the United States in the bronze medal game of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup more than Dillon Brooks.
The Houston Rockets wing said representing his national team in the event was "so enjoyable."
"Obviously, the hate doesn't stop and it keeps going," he told reporters. "But just having my country, head coach, a GM, all these guys behind me, and trying to help me to succeed, having nothing to do with the politics, contracts, any of those things... It's hard to battle against the world in a team. So it's just a great feeling."
Brooks' World Cup run comes on the heels of an NBA offseason in which some felt he was scapegoated by the Memphis Grizzlies for their first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Only days after their Game 6 defeat, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the Grizzlies "informed [Brooks] that he will not be brought back under any circumstances" as he entered free agency.
Brooks' trash talk toward Lakers star LeBron James didn't exactly help the cause, and his performance left something to be desired. But Memphis' loss exposed problems that went well beyond the 27-year-old.
Signing a four-year, $86 million contract with the Rockets was already a form of vindication for Brooks considering some of the mockery he faced. Him showing out on an international stage sends quite a message as well.
In eight World Cup games, Brooks averaged 15.1 points and shot 58.8 percent from beyond the arc. He dropped 39 points, five assists and four rebounds in Canada's bronze medal triumph over Team USA.
Based on his postgame comments, the 6'7" forward is carrying a massive chip on his shoulder as he looks to make all of his skeptics look foolish.
And as much as letting Brooks go initially felt like addition by subtraction for Memphis, fans might be rethinking that if his production in the World Cup carries over to the 2023-24 NBA season.
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