“Create the Black Mamba”: Dillon Brooks Justifies ‘Villain’ Persona with Kobe Bryant’s Example After Dominating Team USA

The Canadian team, coupled with Dillon Brooks’ brilliant performance absolutely dominated Team USA to win bronze at the FIBA World Cup 2023. Brooks dropped a phenomenal 39-point performance, which helped him and his team bring home a medal for their country from the tournament. Though the Houston Rockets star is vilified in the league surrounding his persona, the Canadian claims he learned it all from the late Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant.

Team USA seemed to break all expectations and progress further to capture the title in the tournament. However, two tough losses to Germany and Canada were the end of the story for the young national team. The team failed to capture the bronze medal after Dillon Brooks and co. overwhelmed Austin Reaves and Anthony Edwards’ team in a 127-118 overtime win.

Dillion Brooks explains how his villainous persona was influenced by Kobe Bryant

Dillon Brooks’ 39-point performance in the bronze medal game against the USA has earned him much praise and appreciation from the NBA circles. However, Brooks is often criticized, and more often villainized, for his tough on-court persona. In the post-game interview, following the win, Brooks invoked Kobe Bryant’s example to explain his different, and rather villainous persona, on the court,

“It’s just like Kobe Bryant… He had to figure out how to create the Black Mamba, a different persona when he comes on the court. I guess that’s my persona—The Villain.”

Have a look at this clip from the post-game interview, uploaded by ClutchPoints on X (formerly Twitter).

When Kobe Bryant arrived in the league as a young and energetic 18-year-old rookie, he was also perceived as cocky and arrogant against veterans of the league. However, Kobe Bryant used this perception of himself to get the best of the games. He emulated the ‘Black Mamba’ personality in order to become a formidable figure on the court. And fair enough, he was successful.

Perhaps, Dillon Brooks is also trying to emulate a new persona as ‘The Villain,’ just like Kobe did as the ‘Black Mamba.’ Over the years, we will get to see how much Brooks is able to carry and translate his persona with his on-court performances.

Anthony Edwards and co. failed to bring a medal despite earning $204,000,000

The United States National Basketball team roster will earn around $204,000,000 cumulatively for their 2023-24 campaign. However, the Americans failed to show up on the big stage, failing to bring any medals back home from the FIBA World Cup 2023 tournament. This might be a significant blow for the team, with young players such as Austin Reaves and Anthony Edwards showing brilliant flashes of performance.

Several NBA veterans and personalities had previously doubted this team when the rosters were announced. Shaquille O’Neal openly ridiculed the team on his Instagram handle after their semi-final loss to Germany on Friday. Seems like the team failed to exceed the expectations and prove all the pre-assumptions on them wrong in this tournament.