What you didn’t know about Dillon Brook’s pregame staredown ritual

The Phoenix Suns have seen their culture shift since the addition of Dillon Brooks to the organization, and now the franchise hopes he can help lead them to a couple of big wins in the NBA playoffs.

Phoenix is up against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of their NBA playoff series. Just prior to tipoff, Brooks has become infamous for his staredown of the opposing team while he stands on his team’s side of the court during pregame warm ups.

A lot of fans mock Brooks, but there’s an apparent meaning behind the staredown, and it’s not simply trying to get in the opposing team’s head.

“He does this every game for about two to three minutes,” ESPN broadcaster Dave Pasch said during a timeout in Thunder-Suns Game 2. “He will stare straight ahead and not blink. We talked to him about this before the game, it makes him feels like he’s all alone. He’s the man in the arena amidst all the chaos right before the start of the game, he’s trying to settle down his emotions and get focused.”

Dillon Brooks' pregame ritual

Suns-Thunder Game 2 is live on ESPN and the ESPN App pic.twitter.com/iPdZl4rUJC

— ESPN (@espn) April 23, 2026

Dillon Brooks had a career year in scoring with the Phoenix Suns this season, averaging 20.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three.

Brooks had a big Game 2 against the Thunder and nearly helped the Suns come back from a 26-point deficit by scoring 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting and 5-of-9 from three before fouling out in 38 minutes of action.

That game also saw Suns star Devin Booker come out to his postgame press conference and call out NBA referee James Williams by name while saying the league is dangerously close to turning into the WWE if referees are not held accountable.

Game 3 of Suns-Thunder isn’t scheduled to tipoff until Saturday afternoon at 12:30PM PST. With the series shifting to Phoenix for Games 3 and 4, this will be the Suns’ opportunity to get back in the series behind their raucous home crowd.

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