NBA: Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets was fined $25,000 for reckless contact
The NBA on Thursday levied a $25,000 punishment on Houston Rockets swingman Dillon Brooks for elbowing Indiana Pacers center Daniel Theis in the groin during a home preseason victory on Tuesday.
The league said that during the first quarter, while evading an interception, Brooks “recklessly made contact” with Theis with his left hand, causing Germany’s Theis to double over.
With 4:33 remaining in the first round of Houston’s 122-103 victory against the Pacers, Brooks was called for a flagrant foul 2 on the play and was then dismissed.
Last season, Brooks led the NBA in technical fouls. The 27-year-old Canadian, who calls himself “Dillon the Villain” for past transgressions, said that he felt “picked on” by officials after the game because of his notoriety.
LeBron James was dribbling the ball during game three of the NBA playoffs last year when Brooks, then representing the Memphis Grizzlies, delivered a left hand to the Los Angeles Lakers star’s groin. The attack caused James, the four-time NBA MVP, to fall to the floor in pain and earned Brooks an ejection for a flagrant foul 2.
Memphis was defeated by the Lakers in six games, and Brooks—who had previously criticized James for being “old” at 38—was sent from the Grizzlies to Houston in a July trade.
