PHOENIX – One game into the season, Dillon Brooks already has imprinted his identity onto the Phoenix Suns: a disruptor who changes the game the moment he steps on the floor. Teammates say that’s exactly what they signed up for — the full “villain” experience, now wearing purple and orange.
That edge mattered right away. Alongside Devin Booker, Brooks led a second-half push in Wednesday’s opener against the Kings that turned a large deficit into a comeback win. He was true to himself in game one, verbally scuffling with Sacramento’s DeMar DeRozan, and finished with 22 points on 9-of-24 shooting. He’ll have another opportunity to flex his villain muscle Friday night against the Clippers.
“Yeah. I shot it bad to begin with, but you know, the fans stuck with it,” Brooks said. “I know Phoenix brings out the crowd every single night. We appreciate our fans sticking with us. … We figure it out and we play tough. We play physical and you know we listen to each other on that floor.”
Although he didn’t acknowledge it postgame, Brooks has long adopted his “villain” persona. His teammates couldn’t help but bring it up during practice the next day.
“He’s definitely a flip-the-switch guy, because off the court, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever want to be around,” small forward Nigel Hayes-Davis said. “And as soon as we walk him to the court, the villain is on the court.”
Hayes-Davis added that it matters on nights that hang in the balance.
“He’s definitely going to win us a lot of games that maybe we kind of shouldn’t win, or we kind of weren’t in position to win, just by having that edge, that attitude, playing harder than other people, diving extra efforts,” said Hayes-Davis, who is back in the NBA after playing for multiple European teams during his seven-year absence.
The first regular season look at Brooks started with the usual nerves of an opener, but the second half was much different, and not just for Brooks. Coach Jordan Ott, who reviewed film with the team the next day, pointed to a sequence that captured Brooks’ identity.
“A possession sticks in my mind that we just watched in film where he just ran through someone,” Ott said. “He didn’t quite get the initial rebound, but he ended up getting a layup out of the possession. So yeah, both ends, and then just his overall personality definitely helps. Our group has responded physically.”
Brooks’ reputation truly precedes him. Throughout his NBA career he has leaned into the polarizing label, adopting the “villain” name rather than running from it. True to form, he spent camp teasing the locker room about identifying a “Villain Jr.” He used a team video to reveal the choice, it was guard Collin Gillespie — a nod, teammates say, to hard-nosed habits Brooks appreciates and wants to see multiply.
Guard Grayson Allen said the opener showcased the total “villain” package: nastiness on one end, opportunism on the other and constant motion in between.
“Yeah, I mean, he takes a lot of pride in his individual matchups defensively, and he’s got the offensive skill to go back at him on the other end,” Allen said. “His activity level just across the whole course of the game is super high, and he always finds himself in the right place at the right time because of that.”
That offensive skill is something Brooks has been looking to solidify. He has been seeing success in that category thanks to his hard work with trainer David Tyndale.
“Both of us have been working resiliently every single day,” Brooks said. “I even got up at like 6:30, couldn’t sleep, and came to the gym and got some shots up. Trusting to work every day and keep recovering, take care of my body for these games.”
He was also pleased to see Ott secure his first win as the Suns head coach.
“They had a little video for him, his family, congratulating him, looking at his journey,” he said. “You know, he’s special. He’s in the office at the practice facility every single day till 8 or 9 p.m. And I know that because I’m in there, too.
“Over the summer he’s there rebounding, as a head coach. He’s passing the ball. He’s into the workouts, he’s the offensive wizard. He figures stuff out and you know, we really wanted to get this win.”
One game, one win, one identity reinforced: Phoenix wants to feel like a fist on both ends of the floor. Almost an entire season is left to play and as Ott put it, Brooks’ impact is as much attitude as it is scheme.
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