Phoenix Suns star forward Dillon Brooks loves to “poke bears” by calling them “underrated”. The only way to stop him? Give a forty when playing against him, like Damian Lillard. The 30-year-old has so much faith in his abilities that he’s gone back and forth with some of the biggest names, including none other than LeBron James. And while many thought the rivalry between the two had died out, Brooks began reigniting the flame in February, which is now extending to several other superstars above him on the latest top-50 players list.

During his recent appearance on Million Dollaz Worth of Game show, alongside Gillie Da King and Wallo267, Brooks ended up throwing a lot of shade on several NBA stars. It all started when the group started reviewing Complex’s newest top-50 players list, and when the Suns wing was asked whether he thinks he deserved a higher rank than the No. 48 he had secured. Safe to say, Dillon wasn’t satisfied with his rank or that of others.

“No, even though he’s having a great year,” Brooks said about Utah’s Keyonte George, further labelling him “soft.”

Dillon Brooks then took digs at a few more stars before the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James showed up on the list. As expected, the Phoenix star sounded off on the 41-year-old, saying, “He ain’t having a better year than me.”

The Phoenix wing even went as far as calling LeBron James’ teammate Austin Reaves a “foul baiter.” He also claimed to have had better seasons than the Rookie of the Year candidate and this year’s No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg, and didn’t spare OKC’s Jalen Williams and Sixers center Joel Embiid by calling them “too hurt.”

Well, there’s no doubt that Brooks is having a career year, and James, given his age, has fallen a little this season and understandably so. But despite that, James is still one of the better players for the Lakers. The Akron Hammer is currently averaging 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 7.0 assists. This is better than Brooks’ averages of 20.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

Talking about James Harden, Brooks made it clear that he can guard him as and when he pleases. “I can guard James. That’s life. No, he doesn’t want no physicality. All he wants to do is go left. Like he’s like a 90 percent better basketball player going left than right. I know the step back’s coming, I know the foul bait f—– throwing his arms into you is coming. And when he gets to his right hand, he wants to just pass the ball,” Brooks said.

However, simple stats refute Brooks’ claims. After all, despite Brooks’ elite defensive skills, Harden has managed to average 28.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in games against his teams, per StatMuse, and has won nine out of the fifteen games he’s played against Brooks.

While stat lines and box scores might not tell the entire story, one can argue that they should be more than enough to humble Dillon Brooks. And the Suns’ position at 7th in the Western Conference with a 37-27 record doesn’t really lift his case. Yet, none of that has made Brooks falter even just a little bit, and he has gone on to make another bold claim.

Dillon Brooks believes Minnesota will have problems facing Phoenix in the playoffs

Even though Phoenix Suns star Dillon Brooks is currently sidelined with a fracture in his left hand and the playoff berths haven’t even been confirmed, he’s already thinking about the postseason. During his latest appearance, the 30-year-old made a bold claim that the Suns would prefer to face Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs. The reason behind it?

“You know, they’re having a great year this year, win a chip, whatever, and whatnot. But if they run into us, they’ve got problems. We’ve got their number,” he said while discussing Minnesota’s performance till now.

“There’s no one on the team that can bang with him, so I’ll guard Julius,” he added.

Well, Phoenix does hold the edge this season against Minnesota as they’ve won each of the last two meetings between the two teams. The Timberwolves couldn’t pull the Suns down even when the latter were missing key pieces like Jalen Green and Devin Booker. Still, while he does have a fair argument, it’s hard not to think that regular-season games and playoffs are two different ball games.

Besides that, the Suns’ margin of victory was rather narrow, and Edwards pulled out an average of over 40 points. Also, the Wolves occupy the fourth place in the West conference with a 40-24 record. So, the postseason could unlock a beast in the Wolves that Brooks would definitely not see coming.

Nonetheless, on March 17, things will be much clearer when the two teams meet again for one final time before the regular season becomes a memory.