Jon Bloom

Dillon Brooks: “Pretty much from the jump, I was a shit-talker. But I actually don’t think that really does it justice. Everybody can talk shit. That’s nothing. You go to the Mississauga YMCA, and everybody is talking trash. That’s basic. What I learned to do is different. I call it the dark arts. It’s not really about what I’m saying to you. It’s about what I got you saying to yourself. When you’re playing at the Y, you’re seeing the same guys all the time. Half of them are your boys. So you learn exactly what pisses them off. It’s like you got a little playbook on them, right? All you have to do is press that button at the right time, and they’re going to lose their focus. You don’t even have to say much. Just a name. Just the first name of ol’ girl…. Right as they’re about to take a jumper. You can say it real soft, too. ‘Mikayla.’ And that’s a brick. Just that little subconscious thought planted in their mind. ‘What did you just say?’ ‘Huh? Nothing. What are you talking about?’ Next time down the floor, you wait until he gets the ball again…. ‘Mikayla.’ You don’t even need to elaborate. He might not hit a shot the rest of the game. There’s a million different weak points you can find. Everybody is different. I didn’t just come up with all this on my own. I learned from a master. One of my boys at the Y was one of the most sinister trash talkers I’ve ever met. Dude was devious. Real subtle, too. He’d be preying on your deepest insecurities. I remember when I first started to get some shine, I was playing AAU and I had some colleges looking at me, right? So we’d be playing pickup, and I’d miss a shot, and he’d be just squinting at me…. Like… ‘D1, huh?’ I’d miss another shot. He’s shaking his head…. ‘Oregon? Man, I don’t see it.’ Now I’m pissed. I’m trying too hard. I’m already in my head. But he’s just setting me up. He’s laying the groundwork. Next time down the floor, he hits me with it…. Sheridan. See, we got this college in Canada called Sheridan. And this is no disrespect to anybody, but Sheridan is one of those places where guys go to play ball who can’t quite make it to the States. It’s for the dudes who stay home. So I hit a shot, and he’s squinting at me, and he goes…. ‘Yeah, I think you could probably play at Sheridan. I dunno.’ Man…… When I tell you I went crazy…… I took the ball and I just booted that shit into the rafters. He had me so f***** up. And this is my boy, mind you. I still think about that to this day, and I wanna fight him. That’s how you know he won.” playerstribu.ne/Dillon