It happened in the opening moments of the third quarter with the Lakers holding a commanding 53-37 lead. Brooks was guarding James as he dribbled the ball across halfcourt. As James was dribbling behind his back to change direction, Brooks smacked James in the lower body, and he went down almost immediately.
The officials reviewed the play and the video was very clear, so they assessed Brooks with a flagrant 2, resulting in the automatic ejection.Lakers’ LeBron James takes below the belt shot from Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks (flagrant foul 2, ejection) pic.twitter.com/IgBFRNA3a0
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 23, 2023
We would not expect Brooks to receive a suspension for this play, as the precedent for this year's playoffs has already been set. James Harden was ejected from Game 3 of the Sixers-Nets series for hitting Royce O'Neal in the groin, and he was not suspended.
As for LeBron, he has taken shots to the nuts before, and he was not going to let this prevent him from taking care of business. He made 1 of 2 foul shots for the flagrant and stayed in the game, finishing with 25 points and 9 rebounds to help beat the Grizzlies 111-101 to give the Lakers a 2-1 series lead.
[LBS]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
