Mully rips Brooks for flagrant foul: Worthy of ‘major brawl’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
After Dillon Brooks’ scary Flagrant 2 foul on Gary Payton II during the Warriors’ Game 2 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, there was no shortage of opinions on the controversial play.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Chris Mullin didn’t mince words when providing his take on the foul, which resulted in a fractured elbow for Payton.
During “Warriors Live: Playoff Edition” after the 106-101 final at FedExForum, Mullin fired off on Brooks from the studio back in the Bay.
Mully on Brooks’ Flagrant 2 foul: “If you were playing a pickup game, that’d be a major brawl. That was a dirty play” pic.twitter.com/YDDBYqnVTl
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 4, 2022
“It’s three minutes into the game, so it’s uncalled for, it’s dirty” Mullin began. “We can’t speak on intention, we don’t know that, but when you look at the replay, [Brooks] was nowhere near the ball. He just took Gary Payton II out to the ground, hit him in the head and the neck. Yeah, he broke every code, never mind NBA code.”
Mullin was referring to Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s postgame comments that Brooks “broke the code” when he wound up and clocked Payton across the head as the Golden State guard went up for a dunk in the first quarter.
An irate Kerr also called the foul “dirty” during a mid-game interview with TNT’s Jared Greenberg before the start of the second quarter, and both Steph Curry and Draymond Green vocalized their own anger about the play during their postgame press conferences.
The “Warriors Live: Playoff Edition” broadcast crew echoed Golden State’s sentiments, with both Bonta Hill and Mullin agreeing that the hard foul would have resulted in a “brawl” if it happened during a pickup game, let alone an NBA playoff game.
“A major brawl,” Mullin said. “So that was a dirty play, there’s no question about that. I think he will be suspended — that’s my personal opinion — when the league looks at that and the fact that Gary Payton is now out for the season.”
The violent foul derailed Payton’s resurgence as a postseason hero, which saw the journeyman make his way from being undrafted in 2016 to playing a key role in Golden State’s current playoff run.
RELATED: GP2 has fractured elbow; Kerr chastises Brooks, who ‘broke code’
“As far as Gary Payton goes, this kid has done everything right,” Mullin said. “He took the long journey to find the place where he fits perfectly. He’s played incredible basketball, he’s solidified himself as a big-time part of this championship team, so for this to happen at this point, at any point, but at this point especially, it just makes it that much more worse.
“Feel so bad for him, but Steve Kerr said it best: Dillon Brooks broke the code. That was a dirty play.”
Payton’s injury also dealt a blow to a Warriors locker room that now looks to swing the series in their favor as they head back to Chase Center for Game 3 on Saturday.