Dillon Brooks credits viral meme to oddly timed LeBron James fan interaction

An oddly timed interaction between LeBron James and a fan was behind the viral laughing meme of Phoenix Suns guard Dillon Brooks during Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder playoff series last season. 

Brooks, who had front-row seats to the game, was caught sitting along the baseline, laughing and seemingly staring down James as the Lakers forward readied for a free throw. 

Dillon Brooks spotted courtside at Thunder-Lakers Game 4 👀 pic.twitter.com/YeEfSufVvF

— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 12, 2026

Brooks said on the Road Trippin Show he was surprised that the 22-time NBA All-Star would be focused on what a fan is saying to him with Los Angeles facing elimination.

“I guess he was talking to an LA fan or something, and I guess he was like, ‘I know you’re throwing shade at me,'” Brooks told podcast co-hosts Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson, both of whom grew up in Phoenix. 

“So I’m looking at him, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, he’s really worried about this fan right here, and you’re (down) 3-0 right here,’ and I’m just cracking up right here, and I’m telling my agent on the side, ‘damn, he’s really focused on the wrong (expletive) right now.'”

Ironically, Brooks revealed he got the tickets from James’ agent and friend Rich Paul.

“I asked Rich for the tickets. So he put me, I guess, right here. I didn’t know going in. I wanted to watch a playoff game and look at it from a different point of view than when we were playing in it,” Brooks said. “Cause when we were playing against OKC, I was just so locked in. So now I’m like, ‘Let me watch it from this other point of view.’ I get to the seats, and I’m like, ‘Aw (expletive).’ This was like five minutes … it’s a good meme.”

The rivalry between Brooks and James goes back to when Brooks called James “old” and said, “I poke the bears,” while playing for the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2023 NBA playoffs.

The rivalry continued last season with Brooks calling James “a social media junkie” and saying he wouldn’t play a certain way against him after being ejected following an escalation between the two during a Suns-Lakers game.

The next chapter of the Brooks-James rivalry will be an interesting one, with the all-time leading scorer announcing Friday he will sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.

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