It is a sign of just how well this Phoenix Suns season has gone that there were several candidates who could have been their second-quarter MVP.
Devin Booker will always be in the running, and we aren’t mad if you think it should have been him. We could have even gone with Collin Gillespie once again.
Dillon Brooks gave The Valley their soul back
But at a time when Dillon Brooks is receiving more national attention (for all of the right reasons) than any other time in his career, how could it not be him?
Yes the technical fouls remain a problem, and of course he is liable to go over the line in certain situations. But compared to the altogether pedestrian Kevin Durant era, on the court at least, how much fun is this?
We should have known Brooks was going to be the injection of caring this organization badly needed when he got a pair of technicals during a team scrimmage prior to the season even beginning.
Dillon making a special memory for a young fan 🪨📄✂️ pic.twitter.com/8blBvQZe54
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 15, 2026
His recent comments on the Memphis Grizzlies and being made a scapegoat for their shortcomings may have appeared brash, but they were also true. They haven’t been the same since he was sent packing.
Dig a layer deeper and you get to the real beauty of Brooks. He’s not afraid to have the joke be at his own expense, while he completely understood the Houston Rockets trading him and Jalen Green for Durant.
He might relish going up against the best players in the league each night, but Brooks also doesn’t do what so many in the league have before him in mistaking his own place in the hierarchy of the NBA, or even on his own team.
Booker is the franchise cornerstone and not only is he cool with that, the fact we’ve hit January and he’s at least in the outskirts of the conversation to be an All-Star shows you how important he has been to the revival in Phoenix.
Brooks has been a brilliant co-star for Booker this season, but also has no problem deferring to Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neale when they’ve got it going. He will also change up his offensive style when he’s time for Green to get back out there.
His individual numbers in what is a career year for the Canadian international speak for themselves, and the Suns wouldn’t be in the playoff picture halfway through their campaign without him. Brooks is both deserving of this honor, and the love and embrace he is getting from The Valley.