National Basketball Association

Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks 'wouldn't mind' facing Lakers in first round

Updated Apr. 11, 2023 8:00 p.m. ET

As the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies wait to see who they'll face in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, Dillon Brooks seems to have his eyes on the purple and gold.

Brooks said on Tuesday that he "wouldn’t mind" facing LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series.

"The legacy is there. First time back in the playoffs, knock him out right away in the first round," Brooks said of James and the Lakers. "It’ll test us good. They got good pieces, good players, and that’ll be a good first round matchup for us."

For Memphis to face Los Angeles in Round 1, the Lakers would have to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Tuesday night's Western Conference 7-8 play-in game.

Los Angeles began the 2022-23 NBA season 19-24. They then rebounded thanks to a series of trade acquisitions (D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Mo Bamba), going 24-15 the rest of the way. Furthermore, the Lakers closed out the regular season by winning nine of their last 11 games.

The Grizzlies went 1-2 against the Lakers in the regular season, their lone win coming at home.

As for Brooks, the 27-year-old averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 39.6/32.6/77.9 across 73 regular season games for Memphis, which finished 51-31. Meanwhile, James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game while shooting 50.0/32.1/76.8, helping him earn his 19th NBA All-Star Game nod.

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