The war of words between Dillon Brooks and LeBron James has reached a new level. The Phoenix Suns forward’s recent comments have drawn a lot more attention, especially given his rivalry with the 41-year-old star over the last few years. Brooks took James’ name and used the word ‘grandmother’ in the same sentence. Read that again.

Recently, the forward was on a livestream with popular figure N3on, who was in the process of linking up with various West Coast athletes. The two were riding in the back of a car when the streamer asked Brooks about who he thought was the most overrated player in the NBA. Needless to say, he was ready to “poke bears” again.

“I’ll probably say LeBron right now,” Brooks said after pausing to think. “I feel like he overrated right now. I feel like his time is coming to an end. You got to pass that on to one of our world guys, like a Luka [Doncic] or a Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander].”

Brooks was clear in his reasoning. Despite his status as one of the game’s greatest players, James is clearly on the decline due to his age. Just this season, the forward has dropped from 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds last season to 21.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 5.8 rebounds now, and he’s had to miss a significant portion of the season due to sciatica.

Brooks didn’t hold back, suggesting that James should hand over the keys as the face of the league to an international player, such as his own Slovenian teammate. The Suns star did, however, show respect for James as a legend, but made it clear he’s not going to go easy on him, regardless of the situation.

“When you’re on the floor, and it’s between those four lines, it doesn’t matter if you’re LeBron James or my grandmother,” Brooks confidently said. “It’s war from when the buzzer sounds to the end of the game, no matter who it is.”

Brooks has a 2-1 advantage over James this season, and the show isn’t over yet. The Los Angeles Lakers will be making a trip to the Mortgage Matchup Center later this month, in what could be their last clash. But how and when did it all begin?

The LeBron James-Dillon Brooks rivalry has been brewing for years

This isn’t even close to the first time Dillon Brooks has taken aim at LeBron James, and it’s likely not going to be the last. Their history stretches back to the 2023 playoffs, when Brooks, then with the Memphis Grizzlies, made headlines by calling him “old,” daring him to score 40 in the series.

Despite the Lakers going on to eliminate the Grizzlies in six, Brooks only leaned harder into the villain role ever since. James, for his part, went in a different direction, posting the now-infamous “help the bear” message on Instagram while publicly avoiding Brooks.

However, things have heated up significantly this season. Earlier, during a game between the Suns and Lakers, Brooks and James went head-to-head, getting physical and trading verbal barbs. Both were assessed technicals, and Brooks was even ejected after losing his cool.

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According to a fan transcription, James chirped as much as fans expected from Brooks, calling him a “b—-” and to “chill the f— out with that b——-.”

The final few possessions even resulted in James running over Brooks in a hard no-call, which swung the game in the Lakers’ favor after his ejection.