Suns’ Dillon Brooks shows vs. Lakers he remains NBA’s king of trash talk

Dillon Brooks walked back into Crypto.com Arena like it was a stage built just for him, and he played the villain to perfection.

Brooks dropped 33 on the Lakers in a 125-108 Suns win Monday night, but the scoring was only half the show. The rest was theater.

Trash talk. Gestures. Staredowns. The full Dillon Brooks package — especially when LeBron James is in the building.

Suns coach Jordan Ott said the return to L.A. meant something extra to Brooks, and you could feel it from the opening tip.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Ott said, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “He’s talked a lot about coming back into this building. He had a tough playoffs a couple of years ago.

“This means something different to him. We feel that as a group… we follow his lead.”

Brooks did more than talk. He scorched L.A. for 23 in the first half alone, including 15 in the second quarter. At one point he hit 10-of-11 shots, barking back at courtside fans who were chirping nonstop.

“They wanted me to keep shooting, so I kept shooting,” Brooks said, finishing 15-of-26 shooting and continuing what’s now a career-best scoring run at 22.3 points per game.

LeBron refused to even say Brooks’ name afterward. But the camera caught how he felt.

Late in the fourth, after Brooks tried backing down Bronny James and got called for a travel, LeBron flashed a slow, deliberate thumbs-down from the bench.

No words needed. No tension lost.

Brooks poked the bear again, and loved every second of it.