Before April 2023 Dillon Brooks and LeBron James were league opponents with limited public exchange. The split began on April 20, 2023, after Memphis' Game 2 win in the first-round series, when Brooks told reporters, 'I don't care -- he's old. You know what I mean? ... But I poke bears. I don't respect no one until they come and give me 40' [2]. Seventeen seconds into the second half of Game 3 on April 23, 2023, Brooks swiped his left hand into LeBron's groin; officials assessed a Flagrant 2 and ejected Brooks after review, and the NBA declined to issue a further suspension [1][3]. Nine days later, on April 29, 2023, LeBron posted an Instagram montage captioned, 'If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a Grizzly bear, HELP THE BEAR,' widely reported as a direct response to Brooks' taunts [4][7]. Brooks defended his posture publicly later that summer, telling Sportsnet in an August 24, 2023 interview, 'I feel like I always had him,' and characterizing his remarks as competitive trash talk rather than a personal vendetta [5]. The episode left a recorded origin: a taunting postgame comment, a defining on-court ejection, and a social-media rebuke — events that established the public beef and anchored later confrontations when Brooks changed teams and resumed provocations in matchups through 2025 [2][1][4][5][9].
As of December 14, 2025 the conflict remains active and public. The most recent documented exchanges are Brooks' 33-point performance and visible taunting in Los Angeles on December 2, 2025 [9], followed by his ejection after chest-to-chest contact following a go-ahead 3 on December 14, 2025, when LeBron made late free throws to win 116–114 [8]. LeBron has continued limited, pointed public responses (short media replies and an earlier April 29, 2023 Instagram caption) rather than sustained back-and-forth interviews [4][6][7]. There is no public record of private reconciliation talks between the players or teams in the reviewed reporting. Given repeated in-game incidents through 2025, the dispute should be considered ongoing and episodic, with future meetings likely to attract attention and officiating scrutiny [8][9].
Brooks frames his actions as deliberate gamesmanship and competitive posture: provoking established stars to gain an edge and energize his team. He has repeatedly defended his remarks and behavior as part of his on-court identity rather than a personal vendetta [5][9].
LeBron has taken a restrained, outcome-focused posture: short media replies and a pointed social-media montage rather than sustained back-and-forth. His choices suggest preferring on-court resolution and symbolic rebuttals over extended public argument [4][6].
The league, media and fans treated the exchange as a high-profile rivalry that combined on-court enforcement and social-media narrative elements. Media amplified soundbites and the NBA's officiating decisions provided official bookends to the story [1][2][7].
As of the most recent reporting in December 2025, the antagonism remains active and episodic: Brooks engaged LeBron in visible taunts on Dec. 2, 2025 and was ejected after post-shot contact on Dec. 14, 2025, and LeBron has continued limited public replies and social-media responses rather than extended public confrontations [9][8].
The public conflict began with Brooks' postgame remarks on April 20, 2023—'I don't care -- he's old' and 'I poke bears'—which were widely reported and then followed by on-court escalation three days later when Brooks was ejected for a low blow on April 23, 2023 [2][1].
Seventeen seconds into the second half of Game 3 on April 23, 2023, Brooks swiped his hand into LeBron's groin; officials assessed a Flagrant-2, ejected Brooks after review, and the NBA reviewed the play but did not suspend him further [1][3].
LeBron mostly kept public comments brief, offering concise media replies such as 'The game is won in between the four lines' and later posted an Instagram montage on April 29, 2023 captioned 'If you ever see me fighting in the forest with a Grizzly bear, HELP THE BEAR,' which media widely framed as a retort [6][4][7].
On Dec. 14, 2025 Brooks hit a go-ahead 3 with 12.2 seconds left but bumped LeBron on the way back, earning a second technical and ejection; LeBron then made the late free throws that secured a 116–114 Lakers win, per the ESPN/AP recap [8].
After the April 23, 2023 Flagrant-2 ejection the NBA reviewed the play and did not issue a further suspension to Brooks; reporting on Dec. 14, 2025 documents the ejection but does not report an additional league suspension in the available sources [1][3][8].
No public retraction or apology was recorded in the reviewed reporting; Brooks instead doubled down on his competitive posture, saying 'I feel like I always had him' in an August 24, 2023 interview and continuing provocative behavior in December 2025 [5][9].
Media outlets repeatedly highlighted soundbites ('I poke bears' and 'HELP THE BEAR') and circulated game and social-media clips from Dec. 2025, turning isolated comments and plays into recurring storylines that kept the exchange in public view [2][4][7][9].