Mitchell calls for NBA to take action against Brooks
Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks have years of history that trace back to the battles between the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies. So when Mitchell reacted after Brooks hit him in the groin area, he believed that Brooks’ intent was no accident.
Mitchell threw the ball at Brooks and then charged at him. The two had to be separated, and both were ejected in the third quarter. The referees determined that Brooks’ ejection was due to purposeful intent of hitting Mitchell in the groin, while Mitchell’s ejection stemmed from throwing the basketball at Brooks.
The Cavaliers went on to win the game 128-113 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. After the game, Mitchell called for the NBA to take further action against Brooks.
“The NBA has to do something about it,” Mitchell said.
“That’s just who he is,” Mitchell added. “We’ve seen it a bunch in this league with him . ... Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his (expletive) for years. Playoffs, regular season. The one game he does an all-right job on me today, he decides to do something like that. There’s no place for that in the game.”
Mitchell was shooting 2-for-11 and finished with six points at the time of the ejection. Brooks scored nine points on 2-for-5 shooting.
The Grizzlies have gotten a reputation for being a team that likes to talk. While last season it appeared that they were a likeable team entering the spotlight, more encounters have happened this season with teams challenging the Grizzlies’ talkative ways.
A notable moment was in a December interview with ESPN: Ja Morant stated that he was “fine in the West” when asked about which teams are the biggest challengers to the Grizzlies.
Phoenix Suns forward Torrey Craig used the talk as fuel when the Suns beat the Grizzlies in December. His teammate, Duane Washington, also spoke on the trash talk.
“Everybody hears about the antics and the stuff they do to get going,” Former Suns guard Duane Washington said after a December game against the Grizzlies.
Two weeks ago against the Los Angeles Lakers, Shannon Sharpe said in an interview with ESPN about the Grizzlies, “They do all that talking and jockeying and I ain’t about that jockeying.” That came after Sharpe had an altercation going into halftime of the Grizzlieslakers game with Memphis players.
On Thursday, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff stood behind Mitchell’s reaction that led to his ejection.
“We don’t have guys that start (expletive), but we have guys that don’t run from (expletive), Bickerstaff said.”
Brooks was suspended one game in the postseason last year after a hard foul on Warriors guard Gary Payton II. The Grizzlies are back in action on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors (5 p.m., Bally Sports Southeast).