Draymond Green Exposed Dillon Brooks’ ‘Tough Guy’ Personality in Heated Scuffle, Says NBA Legend

Dillon Brooks said a couple of weeks ago that only two villains were left in the league: himself and Draymond Green. On Monday night, the two met face to face at Chase Center. Former NBA forward Matt Barnes says only one of them looked like a villain once the shoving started, and it wasn't the one who was ejected.

"I kind of always wanted to see what Dillon Brooks would do when he ran up on someone he knows that this with the sh*t. And he showed me right there. He ain't gonna do sh*t," Barnes said on the All The Smoke podcast.

He argued that Brooks, who has built an identity on being tough with people, was given a chance to prove it and didn't. "Dillon Brooks really tries to be tough with a lot of people," he said, adding that the moment "got" the toughness he claims.

Barnes then took aim at the label itself. "I think he needs to drop the tough act and just be a troll because he showed right there that that tough sht ain't for him." He pointed to what he sees as selective toughness. "What I don't like about that kind of stuff is when you pick and choose who to be tough against. If you're gonna be tough and about that sht, you've got to be tough about that sh*t with everyone."

The scuffle came in the third quarter of Golden State's 116-113 comeback win over the Suns on Monday. Green was ejected for the first time this season, and the 31st time in his career, after receiving two technical fouls in the same sequence.

Green, knocked down by Suns center Khaman Maluach, got up and threw him to the floor, and Brooks charged in to confront him. After review, officials called a double technical on Green and Brooks, which triggered the automatic ejection for Green.

Brooks described his own role differently. "I was just trying to de-escalate it," he said. "He was just tweaking all game." Warriors coach Steve Kerr called it "the greatest NBA basketball players on earth competing."

The rivalry predates this season. In 2022, Brooks was ejected after a flagrant foul on Warriors guard Gary Payton II that fractured his elbow and kept him out for nine postseason games. In a 2023 ESPN interview, Brooks said, “I don’t like Draymond at all.” That background is why Brooks charging at Green drew more attention than a typical player-versus-player scuffle.

The Warriors treated the ejection as a turning point. Stephen Curry said Green “lit a fire in all of us.” Golden State trailed 67-57 when Green was disqualified, then outscored Phoenix 42-36 in the quarter to tie the game at 93 and went on to win their fifth straight.