Dillon Brooks explains origins of his hard-nosed attitude, what he brings to new-look Suns

The Phoenix Suns are going to look a lot different this year and one of their centerpieces will be polarizing wing Dillon Brooks.

“I loved playing in Phoenix as an opponent, and now I have 40 games. It’s gonna be great,” Brooks said on Wolf & Luke on Wednesday.

Brooks has bounced around in the NBA from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Houston Rockets, and in each stop, he has been known for getting under opponents’ skin.

“The way I play basketball is hard-nosed, straight at you,” he said.

He says his style comes from his roots in Nova Scotia, Canada, moving from the city to the country.

“They used to always pick on me in the country about (how) I’m a city boy, I’m this, I’m soft. I hated it. I didn’t like it,” Brooks said. “I would try to prove them wrong every single summer to the point where it was just rooted in me to be this competitive, this strong-minded and never back down.”

Brooks has been known to target LeBron James, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and even Kevin Durant when he was a member of the Suns last season.

One of his goals this season is to nail into his young teammates that no matter who your opponent is, to never back down.

“No matter if it’s your idols, if you watched them play, or if you look up to a guy, you still go in between these four lines and show them, ‘I’m better than you,'” Brooks said.

Brooks said he has spent time with Ryan Dunn and is looking forward to taking other young players like Koby Brea and Rasheer Fleming under his wing.

The Suns begin preseason play on Friday, Oct. 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

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