Brooks' feud with LeBron 'cost him' in Suns' loss to Lakers

The latest chapter in an on-court feud between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks resulted in the Phoenix Suns forward's ejection in the final minute of Sunday's 116-114 home defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Phoenix trailed 99-79 with 7:48 left and then mounted a comeback. With 12.2 seconds remaining, Brooks nailed a 3-pointer over James that made it 114-113 for the Suns.

James bowled over Brooks on the follow-through of his closeout. The Suns veteran appeared upset that no foul was called and then confronted James chest to chest. Referees adjudged Brooks to have committed a technical foul on the play - his second of the night, which resulted in an automatic ejection.

"I mean, shit, he brought his antics and tonight it cost him," Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt told reporters, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

James was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Devin Booker with 3.9 seconds left on the next possession. James missed the first free throw before making the final two to give the Lakers a 115-114 lead.

James was animated earlier in the fourth quarter after he and Brooks came together on the baseline. The 40-year-old made contact with the ref during the ensuing stoppage in play and was assessed a technical foul.

"He's going to compete. I'm going to compete. We're going to get up in each other's face. Tried not to go borderline with it. I don't really take it there. But we just competed," James told reporters, including McMenamin. "And did that almost all the way to the end of the game."

Brooks received his first technical foul at the 10:36 mark of the first quarter for making contact with James after a made field goal for the Suns. The two also jawed at each other throughout the game.

"It's never one play that determines anything. It's never one play to get the emotion to that level," Suns coach Jordan Ott told reporters, per AZ Central's Duane Rankin.

Sunday was the latest in a string of on-court incidents between Brooks and James. Following a game in Los Angeles on Dec. 2, Brooks addressed the feud, which had reignited during the Suns forward's 33-point display in a 125-108 victory. "He likes people who bow down. I don't bow down. That either entices him or aggravates him," Brooks told reporters, including Lakers insider Mark Medina.

Brooks was also ejected in 2023 for a flagrant-2 foul for striking James in a 40-point defeat in Game 4 of a playoff sweep while with the Memphis Grizzlies.

"People always say everything's too friendly in the NBA, and then Dillon comes around and now it's too much. … I'd rather it be the other way. I'd rather it be too much," Booker told reporters after Sunday's game, per ClutchPoints' Hayden Cilley.