They may be long-time friends and former Team Canada teammates, but in this first round of the postseason, there seems to be no love lost between OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Phoenix Suns wing Dillon Brooks.
Through these first two games of the series, the two have been seen getting rather chippy on the hardwood, with Wednesday's Game 2 reaching a boiling point late in the fourth when Brooks was seen hip-checking SGA on a sideline closeout, sending him to the ground and seeing fellow Canadian, Lu Dort, get into the Suns vet's face.
The officiating team intervened, ultimately breaking things up, sending Shai to the foul line, and allowing the game to play out en route to a 120-107 Thunder win, but Brooks had seemingly stayed hot following the sound of the final buzzer.
Back in the locker room, while speaking to reporters, the ninth-year veteran referred to the reigning MVP's abundance of foul calls in his favor as "a little frail," and went on to question why "all the dropping... the flopping, the flailing" is being allowed in the high-stakes NBA Playoffs.
Dillon Brooks latest player to call out Thunder star for 'flopping'
Over the past several years, Gilgeous-Alexander has gotten the reputation of being the league's newest "free throw merchant."
Though the moniker is somewhat misplaced and has been proven to be so on multiple occasions, this hasn't stopped fans, players, and coaches alike from continuing to echo such rhetoric.
Yes, the Thunder star does draw a considerable amount of contact and, in turn, gets sent to the charity stripe at a rather frequent rate, but this isn't necessarily something to be chastised for.
In fact, to some, it's worth celebrating, for knowing the proper angles and timing is widely regarded as a "skill."
Fortunately, as has been the case since being branded a foul-baiter, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't seem fazed by Brooks' latest remarks.
Following the contest, the Thunder cornerstone described the situation as Brooks "doing his usual antics," but opted to have a little fun at his expense anyway, as made evident by him smirking and pointing at the Suns wing after hitting a tough mid-range jumper over him in the second quarter.
At the end of the day, Shai understands that he "can't control what Dillon or anyone else on the other side is gonna complain about." All he can do is focus on the moment.
Fortunately, in this moment, his heroics have the Thunder up 2-0 in this best-of-seven quarterfinal matchup against Phoenix.
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