Prominent NBA Rookie Takes Shot at Phoenix Suns Star Dillon Brooks

The Phoenix Suns-Golden State Warriors rivalry has been one of the most compelling across the NBA world over the course of the 2020's decade. 

It seems to be only growing in intensity as the years go on. 

While Phoenix has a 15-12 record against their Pacific Division rival since the 2019-20 season, the Warriors are the ones that have captured an NBA title this decade. The two sides have also traded blows on a game-to-game basis, including barbs that second-year Sun Dillon Brooks has thrown at the Warriors in recent months.

The most recent of which was when Brooks stated that he would choose to start a fight with Warriors forward Jimmy Butler before anyone else in the NBA. 

Warriors rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg responded on Sunday with a very pointed returning shot, which seems to serve as a continued escalation of the tension that has been brewing over the  course of the offseason.

Lendeborg has yet to play a game in the NBA, but it already appears as if he is embracing the "villain" tag himself. It will be fascinating to see how Brooks responds (if at all) to a rookie escalating a situation that has been vet-centered from the onset of this saga. 

This follows the years of pent up tension that was mentioned above, including a high-stakes Christmas Day game in 2022. Events such as Klay Thompson and Devin Booker's back-and-forth, as well as Golden State forward Draymond Green striking former Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkic in the head, have directly contributed to these conditions. 

Now, the two sides head into the season with even more shared history, as the Suns took down the Warriors by a score of 111-96 in April to take the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. 

The combination of budding tensions over the years, the presence of multiple players that bring a physical edge/trash talk to the table (even Suns G Collin Gillespie), and the backdrop of the teams once again competing for a playoff spot are setting the stage for four highly intensive contests over the course of the 82-game season.

The Suns and Warriors square off for the first time this season in Phoenix on October 24. This is a game in which Suns head coach Jordan Ott and Warriors head man Steve Kerr may need to step in to keep tensions from boiling over.