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"He got him traded" - Kendrick Perkins reminds everyone how LeBron James affected Dillon Brooks' legacy
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- "He got him traded" - Kendrick Perkins reminds everyone how LeBron James affected Dillon Brooks' legacy
Even though LeBron James has earned seven consecutive All-NBA Team selections during his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers , it is still believed that his more dominant version came during his stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat . Moreover, they believe, those were the years when The King routinely humbled any opponent who dared to challenge him. However, Kendrick Perkins strongly disagrees with that notion.
According to Big Perk, the dominance of the Lakers-era LBJ has been severely underappreciated, pointing to the example of the four-time MVP single-handedly villainizing Dillon Brooks and affecting the trajectory of his career with just one playoff series.
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Perkins reminds everyone of the dominance of Lakers' James
When the Lakers faced the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, the latter was expected to register a thumping win given the youth on their roster and their second-seeded standing in the West during the regular season. In the build-up to that series and even during it, Brooks showed a rare phenomenon: he intentionally triggered Jams with his comments off the court and his antics on it. It felt unusual to see LeBron so openly targeted with deliberate provocation. However, rather than responding with words, the latter let his game do all the talking.
Across the six-game series, King James averaged 22.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game to help the progress further. While he used his experience to drag his team out of many clutch situations, it was believed that Lebron was overly motivated to silence Dillon and show him his worth. As a result, the entire NBA fraternity and the Memphis organization blamed Brooks for the loss and criticized him for "poking the bear" unnecessarily.
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From that moment onward, Brooks' standing in the league shifted dramatically. Not only was he made the scapegoat and traded, but he was also sent to the Houston Rockets (and the Phoenix Suns ) as an overly aggressive role player. Perkins highlighted this sequence as proof of how dangerous it still is to challenge LeBron, because clearly the four-time NBA champion has shown his power to humble opponents who dared to cross a line when he's donning the iconic Purple & Gold jersey.
"You ask what LeBron-Miami would do Dillon Brooks. You ask yourself what Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James did to f—ing Dillon Brooks," Big Perk said . "He got him traded, he did! That playoffs series when he poked that bear. Y'all forget Memphis parted ways with Dillon Brooks. Now it was a mistake on Memphis' part 'cause I love Dillon Brooks, but I'm just saying."
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LeBron has had a legendary career in L.A.
Critics frequently point out that, since James has led the Lakers to the championship round only once in his seven-year tenure, his time in Hollywood has been a failure. However, that narrow view ignores the bigger picture — let alone his individual accomplishments, including leading the franchise to two silverware wins (the NBA title and the NBA Cup) as the Finals MVP.
Still, LBJ has contributed significantly to uplifting the team's evaluation to $10 billion, once again making it a desirable destination for some of the game's best players. While his accomplishments in Cleveland or Miami may be more glorious, King James has unquestionably done enough in Los Angeles to have his jersey hanging in the rafters in every sense, and Perkins wants everyone to realize that.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
