Rockets’ Dillon Brooks Fined $25,000 by NBA

Rockets small forward Dillon Brooks was fined $25,000 for his actions in a preseason game against the Pacers, for what the league called “recklessly making contact with Indiana center Daniel Theis in the groin area.”

Brooks was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected for the incident, which occurred with 7:27 remaining in the first quarter.

Brooks implied he may have a target on his back by the officials, given his history of confrontation while with the Grizzlies.

“What is the name,” Brooks said. “What’s my name? My name is ‘Dillon the Villain,’ so I guess.”

Brooks and Theis were involved in a brief skirmish before Brooks’ ejection.

“On the previous play, Theis may have flopped, in his [Brooks] opinion,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka told reporters. “So, he does something on the next play. You can’t let that carry over. The same guy baited him twice.”

“You have to learn to control your emotions and stay in the game, you can’t get yourself taken out in the first quarter. We love his aggressiveness and physicality, but reputations carry in the NBA, and people will look for certain things, and you have to learn to monitor that better.”