Kyrie Irving seemingly snubbed Dillon Brooks when he refused to take the Grizzlies' forward's jersey after their game, but the Mavs superstar says the awkward moment wasn't intentional, saying he'd "probably get [the jersey] next time."
It all went down Monday night after the Grizzlies defeated the Mavs, 112-108, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Dillon and Ky shared an embrace on the court following the game, but the encounter didn't exactly go as planned for the 27-year-old Brooks.
Dillon Brooks wanted to do a jersey swap with Kyrie Irving
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 21, 2023
The only problem?
Kyrie didn’t want his jersey pic.twitter.com/tAdKllusyb
In the clip, you see Kyrie hand his jersey to Brooks, but when Brooks went to give his jersey to Irving, Kyrie appeared to be in no mood to receive it ... and kept the exchange at a handshake before walking away.
Social media started to talk after the game, and Kyrie was asked about the exchange.
"I saw that after the game," Irving said. "I'll probably get it next time. Probably next time. Not this time. I was really onto the next thing, thought process-wise."
Mavericks' Kyrie Irving says it wasn't intentional that he didn't take Dillon Brooks' jersey in a post-game swap:
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) March 21, 2023
"I saw that after the game. I'll probably get it next time. Probably next time. Not this time. I was really onto the next thing, thought process-wise." pic.twitter.com/ItEYxyIeWi
Meanwhile, on the court, Brooks had his hands full trying to guard Kyrie -- who scored 28 points in 33 minutes. DB is clearly a fan of Irving's, showering the All-Star with praise postgame despite the (maybe?) shade from Kyrie, even comparing him to the Black Mamba.
“He’s just like Kobe [Bryant]," Brooks said. "He’s just like Jordan and those guys. He plays the game at a different place. He uses both hands, mid-range God. And that’s where I want to be at one day, be able to shoot the ball more.”
One thing Kyrie definitely did do after the game was share a moment with Ja Morant, who rejoined the Grizzlies on Monday following an 8-game suspension for showing a gun on Instagram.
Kyrie x Ja 🖤 pic.twitter.com/iBQ3hBq3xF
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) March 21, 2023
Memphis currently sits in second place in the Western Conference. Dillon -- for the second time this month -- is facing an automatic one-game suspension due to his technical foul totals.