The Suns beat the Lakers on Monday night, 125-108, to snap Los Angeles’s seven-game win streak. It was a pretty impressive win from Phoenix. Superstar Devin Booker was forced to exit in the first quarter with a groin injury but his teammates proved ready to pick up the slack, led by the one and only Dillon Brooks.
The NBA’s most famous villain dropped 33 points on 15-of-26 shooting to lead the shorthanded Suns past the star-studded Lakers. Unsurprisingly, he let all the Lakers know about it, trash-talking throughout the contest; at one point he even taunted LeBron James with his signature shoulder-shrugging celebration. It wasn’t all smooth for Brooks, though, and one turnover near the end of the game resulted in a funny gesture from James.
With Los Angeles down by 18 and a few minutes remaining in the game coach JJ Redick emptied the bench, which meant Bronny James got some playing time. The Suns’ starters were still on the court, however, including Brooks. With about three minutes left Brooks found himself one-on-one with the younger James and tried to back him down. But the second-year shooting guard forced a shot clock violation on Brooks and Phoenix turned the ball over.
The cameras panned to LeBron on the sideline, who roasted Brooks with a thumbs down gesture for failing to score on his son.
Bron gave Dillon Brooks the thumbs down after not scoring on Bronny 😅👎 pic.twitter.com/x45QSpzDtn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 2, 2025
Simple, yet effective. James usually doesn’t engage with Brooks’s antics too much but clearly he fell victim to the temptation this time.
The night ultimately belonged to Brooks, though. LeBron only managed 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting and Bronny finished with zero points in his six minutes on the court. Most importantly the Suns earned a win to continue their surprisingly successful season and the Lakers must regroup.
Phoenix next plays on Friday against the Rockets, while Los Angeles suits up against the Raptors on Thursday.
Dillon Brooks addresses latest round of LeBron James trash talk
As he is wont to do, Brooks was happy to continue the trash talk after the final whistle.
Speaking to reporters about his big night, the Suns wing was asked if James was “offended” by the chatter during the game. Brooks said the star is “always” offended and explained why.
“Always, always,” he said. “He likes people who bow down. I don’t bow down. It either entices him or aggravates him, either-or."
Suns’ Dillon Brooks on if LeBron James took offense to his trash talk: “Always, always. He likes people who bow down. I don’t bow down.” pic.twitter.com/AEKH97rBkY
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 2, 2025
Just like any trash talker, Brooks doesn’t seem to care which emotion he elicits out of James. He’s going to do it anyway. And on Monday night he definitely put his money where his mouth was.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LeBron James Used One Finger to Roast Dillon Brooks After Bronny James’s Stop.
