The Phoenix Suns’ remarkable turnaround from 10 games under .500 a season ago to playoff-bound can be tied directly to the offseason acquisition of polarizing wing Dillon Brooks.
The fiery forward has been lauded throughout the season as a culture changer who, in part, has helped flip the Suns' defensive intensity and identity.
After finishing the 2024-25 season ranked 28th in the league in defensive rating, this year’s Suns are in the top 10 in the category. Not to be outdone, Brooks has shown off an offensive repertoire many fans (and even teammates) didn’t know he possessed. Brooks is averaging a career-high 20.4 points per game in his first season in The Valley.
Brooks’ game this season speaks for itself. There’s a reason why Suns legends were advocating for “The Villain” to get All-Star consideration this year.
But what Brooks does on the court goes beyond the effort, toughness and impact he has on both offense and defense — as rival Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers even praised Brooks’ trash talking, something Brooks himself referred to as “the dark arts” in a must-read piece for Suns fans Brooks penned for The Players’ Tribune.
“I feel like my main role on every team I’ve ever been on is getting guys to play harder,” Brooks wrote. “In an 82-game season, when you’re flying for back-to-backs, you gotta remember how much you love this (expletive). I try to be the reminder.”
‘We’re your worst nightmare,’ Dillon Brooks claps back at Suns’ doubters
“I feel like you can see that this season in Phoenix,” Brooks writes of his infectious impact on teammates. “We weren’t supposed to be a threat. Now we’re your worst nightmare.”
After missing out on postseason play a season ago with Kevin Durant in tow, the Suns are gearing up for the play-in tournament to show a national audience exactly what this team is capable of.
“When I got here, they were talking lottery,” Brooks said of the Suns’ doubters. “Now what they talking about?”
As things currently stand, the Suns would play Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers as the No. 7 vs. No. 8 matchup in the Western Conference. The winner would secure a guaranteed place in the 2025 NBA Playoffs and likely face the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
Ironically, Brooks writes that Leonard — a seven-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion — is the only player seemingly immune to Brooks’ elite trash talk.
“The only guy that never reacted was Kawhi. He was my white whale,” Brooks writes. “Nothing ever worked.”
If Leonard and the Clippers are indeed the matchup, it will no doubt be a tough one for Brooks and the Suns.
That being said, the Suns were 2-2 against the Pacific Division rival this season. So, they’ve shown the ability to compete with a squad that was arguably depleted ahead of this year’s trade deadline when the franchise traded away both future Hall of Famer James Harden and talented center Ivica Zubac.
As Brooks writes, “Honestly, answer me…. Who in their right mind wants to see the Phoenix Suns right now?”
That’s the exact swagger and energy Suns fans have been pining for after getting a taste of the NBA Finals in 2021. We’ll just have to see if Brooks and Co. can deliver in the postseason setting.