Dillon Brooks will miss one game, while Gary Payton II misses a lot more than that.
The NBA suspended Brooks, a Memphis Grizzlies forward, without pay for Game 3 of their playoff series against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, the league announced. The suspension is a result of the Flagrant 2 foul called against Brooks in Game 2, when he swiped at Payton as he went up for a fast-break dunk and caused the Warriors guard to land awkwardly – suffering a fractured elbow.
“I don’t know if it was intentional but it was dirty,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after they lost in Memphis.
“Playoff basketball is supposed to be physical. But there is a code that players follow where you never put a guy’s season [or] career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in midair and clubbing him across the head, ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow … He broke the code. Dillon Brooks broke the code.”
Dillon Brooks warms up before a Grizzlies game Getty ImagesThe league called Brooks’ foul with Payton “unnecessary and excessive contact” in announcing the penalty.
Payton reportedly will be sidelined for at least three weeks.



