Trying to connect
Brooks wants to be a better leader for Grizzlies
Toronto. Las Vegas. Barcelona. Memphis.
The past six weeks have been a whirlwind of basketball and travel for second-year Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks. Coming off a conflicting rookie year, one that was individually successful but team-wise very poor, Brooks has tried to turn the page and grow from the experience.
“We had separate entities out there (last year),” Brooks said of the fractious 2017-18 season. “We didn’t handle adversity right. Stuff would happen and we didn’t handle it right. We weren’t professional enough. We had a lot of young minds. We had guys who haven’t been through that in a long time.”
The Grizzlies had a locker room full of young players, combined with veterans who had their own individual problems. Whether it was Marc Gasol’s issue with former coach David Fizdale and subsequent frustration with the team’s fortunes, Chandler Parsons’ inconsistent presence and injury concerns, Mike Conley’s long-term injury, or Tyreke Evans’ post-trade-deadline absence, it all led to a difficult environment for a young player.
Brooks wants to learn from that adversity and become a better leader.
“I’m always trying to relate, to create relationships, so I know (my teammate) has my back regardless of what happens. You see it on the Warriors – those guys built something over there that a lot of teams don’t have.
“That’s what we’re trying to create. We didn’t have any of that last year. We had different lineups almost every single game, so many different players coming through; that’s not a recipe for winning,” Brooks said.
The Grizzlies rolled out 34 starting lineups and featured 24 players. Brooks hopes things settle down this year so he can create better relationships.
“For me, as a future leader, I need to connect with every single player somehow, someway, so you can get the best out of them,” Brooks said. “That’s what I learned at Oregon, trying to evolve into something like that, and that’s what I see Mike and Marc doing.”
Gasol, in particular, has taken an interest in Brooks, inviting the young wing to play in his “Marc vs. Pau” charity game last month in Barcelona.
“He invited me out there (to Spain), and that was a big thing in my mind, because you always see Marc, he does his own thing, he works hard for his team, but to have a young guy come out there and play with him, that was an amazing feeling. I was honored to go out there and play,” Brooks said. “As a player, you always want to create that camaraderie, that care for a person, because you’re going to work a little harder. That’s what I was trying to create with Marc.”
By inviting Brooks to play with him in Spain, Gasol showed Brooks how much he appreciated his consistency in a difficult season. Brooks was perhaps the
most stable member of the Grizzlies last year, always steady and accountable in spite of his youth.
He hopes that improved relationships and team unity will help them avoid spiraling into long losing streaks during this upcoming campaign.
“If we do lose a couple of games, we can’t go into that tunnel, into that hole again. We have to find a way to battle, because the West got even better (this summer),” Brooks said.
Knowing how difficult the Western Conference will be, creating an improved locker room was a motivation for the Grizzlies in signing players such as Omri Casspi and Kyle Anderson. Like Brooks, Casspi also played in Gasol’s charity event in Spain.
The Grizzlies also traded for Garrett Temple, known around the league as an excellent locker room presence. The team wants a more stable environment around its young players, and Brooks thinks that will represent a big step forward – even though making the playoffs won’t be easy for this team.
“That’s where the chemistry, where having a relationship with the other guys, that’s where that all comes in, because if we (can) band together and fight through those adversities and those losses, I can’t wait for the season to start.”