LeBron James has made one thing clear this season: winning comes first. Even if it means risking a long-standing double-digit scoring streak or inviting league scrutiny, the goal hasn’t changed. When the Lakers hit the road Sunday night to face the Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center, it also meant another chapter with a familiar rival. A matchup with Phoenix inevitably brought Dillon Brooks into the picture, and just as expected, sparks followed once the game tipped off.

“Nothing, just compete,” LeBron James said when asked about the constant back-and-forth with Dillon Brooks. “That’s all it’s about — compete. This is the best form of competition. It’s the big boys. So, you know, it’s all about competition. We out there competing and, uh, we was able to get the last laugh.”

The Lakers escaped Phoenix with a narrow 116–114 win, but the score barely captures how fiery the night became. From the opening minutes, Brooks came out aggressively, repeatedly running into and shoving James, which earned him his first technical with 10:36 left. During Q2, James bumped Brooks to the floor, leading to referees calling an offensive foul on James.

Brooks didn’t get a break either, picking up his fourth foul with just 0.9 seconds left in the half after hitting LeBron on a layup attempt.

The physicality continued into the third quarter. Brooks swatted the ball out of the air, and it struck LeBron, triggering an angry reaction from James that even saw him grab a referee.

Lakers coach JJ Redick had to step in and calm his star before things spiraled further. Moments later, Brooks drilled a three and appeared to get knocked down by LeBron with no foul called.

Minutes after the referees had to step in to settle another scuffle, Brooks picked up his fifth personal foul while James was guarding him, limiting his time on the court.

The climax came in the final seconds when Brooks hit a go-ahead three-pointer but immediately got into James’ face and bumped chests, earning his second technical foul and a straight ejection.

LeBron had his clutch moment, sinking two of three crucial free throws to seal the win.

Reflecting on the intensity, he said, “We’re going to get up in each other’s faces. Tried not to go borderline with it. I don’t really take it there. But we just competed. And did that almost all the way to the end of the game.”

Is Dillon Brooks facing another $25K fine for skipping media?

After the final buzzer, Dillon Brooks was nowhere to be seen. Suns insider Duane Rankin reported on X that Brooks didn’t appear in the locker room during media availability, something fans quickly noticed and laughed about because it wasn’t new.

Brooks has a history of skipping the microphones after tough losses, most notably during the 2023 playoffs with Memphis, when he talked loudly during the series but went silent afterward.

During that 2023 first-round series against the Lakers, Brooks skipped postgame media after multiple losses, including Game 6, a blowout that ended Memphis’ season and went down as the worst playoff loss in franchise history.

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The NBA later fined him $25,000 for violating “media interview access” rules. That was also the same series where Brooks leaned fully into his villain role, calling LeBron James “old” and famously saying, “I poke bears,” openly owning his status as the instigator in their feud.

This time, Brooks was MIA again, but his coach had his back. Suns head coach Jordan Ott didn’t hesitate to defend him after the ejection. “We love his emotion, we’re with him,” Ott said.

“He’s brought so much to this city and this franchise. His energy, his passion, his hard work, his attitude every single day, we love it.”And despite the chaos and the clash with LeBron, Brooks backed it up on the court, finishing with 18 points and four made threes for Phoenix.