DeMar DeRozan, the Chicago Bulls’ star small forward, still appears to be smarting from his heated incident with Houston Rockets counterpart Dillon Brooks on Thursday night. The altercation began when DeRozan seemed to hard foul third-year Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green, knocking him to the court. Brooks came over, and the two were eventually separated. Both were dismissed from the contest.
Houston would go on to win 127–117. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, DeRozan wanted to explain why he knocked Green over. However, it was not all he had to say.
DeRozan claimed that he did not mean to hard foul Green, stating that he stumbled and collided with Green, resulting in his spill. The contact appeared excessive at the moment, but DeRozan is not known as a chippy player, so that is also worth considering. It’s worth noting that Green didn’t react as strongly to the situation as Brooks did.
DeMar DeRozan & Dillon Brooks having a frank exchange of opinions 😬
Bodies everywhere! pic.twitter.com/24zA06I9Rx
— CHGO Bulls (@CHGO_Bulls) March 22, 2024
“I was surprised just from the simple fact that I was trying to hedge out and just be aggressive, obviously bumped him, but if you look at it, I kind of tripped into it,” DeRozan went on to say. “I am not dumb. It’s difficult to tell these days until you go back and read a review. It was not anything I intended to do.”
DeRozan went on to elaborate on his feelings regarding the Brooks meeting after the fact. There is obviously no love lost between the two. Both veterans have a surprising amount in common: their careers have been completely revitalized by signing with their current teams in free agency (DeRozan in 2021, Brooks last summer), they are starters on teams with identical season win totals (DeRozan’s Bulls are 34-36, Brooks’ Rockets are 34-35), and they will most likely miss the playoffs this spring.
“Just walking up on me in any type of way,” DeRozan said of Brooks. “I don’t do the walking up on someone when their back is turned. Nah, that’s not something we do. I walked away from the scenario following the foul. I really felt it was inappropriate to approach any male from behind.”
