Dillon Brooks

Brooks was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 45th pick in the 2017 NBA draft and then was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.[9] On July 21, 2017, the Grizzlies signed Brooks to his rookie scale contract.[10] On October 18, 2017, during the Grizzlies' season opener, Brooks scored 19 points, the most points scored by a Canadian-born player in an NBA debut.[11]

On April 11, 2018, Brooks scored a career-high 36 points along with seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals in a 137–123 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.[12] In December 2018, Brooks was thought to be involved in a failed three-way trade between Memphis, the Washington Wizards and the Phoenix Suns; the trade faltered over confusion between Brooks and his similarly-named teammate, MarShon Brooks,[13] as the Memphis front office did not intend to trade Dillon while the other teams expected him and not MarShon.

On January 5, 2019, Brooks suffered from a ruptured ligament in his right big toe[14] and underwent a successful surgery to repair it on January 11, 2019. Brooks missed the remainder of the 2018–19 season.[15]

Brooks began the 2019–20 season as the Grizzlies' starting shooting guard. After averaging 16.1 points per game over the first half of the season, on February 5, 2020, he signed a three-year, $35 million extension with the Grizzlies.[16]

On February 28, 2020, Brooks scored a season-high 32 points, along with getting two rebounds, one assist and one block in a 104–101 loss against the Sacramento Kings.[17]

On May 23, 2021, Brooks made his NBA playoff debut, scoring a season-high 31 points, along with 7 rebounds, to help the Grizzlies to a 112–109 Game 1 victory over the top-seeded Utah Jazz.[18] The Grizzlies would go on to get eliminated and lose the series in five games.[19]

On October 12, 2021, it was announced that Brooks would miss two to three weeks due to a fracture in his left hand.[20] On December 19, he scored a career high 37 points in a 105–100 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.[21] On January 8, 2022, during a 123–108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooks suffered a left ankle injury. The next day, he was ruled out for 3-to-5 weeks with injury, which was diagnosed as an ankle sprain.[22] On April 16, during Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs, Brooks scored 24 points in a 117–130 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.[23]

In Game 2 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors, Brooks was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected after he chased down the Warriors' Gary Payton II and hit him in the head when he was in the air, going up for a fast-break layup; Payton fell hard and fractured his left elbow.[24] Brooks was suspended for Game 3 of the series.[25] The Grizzlies would go on to lose the series in six games.

On February 2, 2023, Brooks was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected for punching Cleveland Cavaliers player Donovan Mitchell in the groin.[26] The next day, the NBA suspended Brooks for one game without pay for his actions.[27] On March 4, he was suspended for one game without pay for incurring his 16th technical foul of the season.[28] On March 17, Brooks was fined $35,000 by the NBA after he shoved a cameraman to the floor during a game two days earlier against the Miami Heat.[29] On March 21, he was suspended for one game without pay for receiving two more technical fouls, pushing his total to 18 for the season.[30]