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Dillon Brooks on villain status: 'Just like Kobe, it’s just a persona'

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Rom Anzures, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Dillon Brooks against Team USA at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Battle for Third, September 10, 2023. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/09/10/20230910-fiba-usa-canada-md-1279-2.jpg"/><figcaption>Dillon Brooks against Team USA at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Battle for Third, September 10, 2023. <em>Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Embracing the villain role definitely worked wonders for Canada&#x27;s Dillon Brooks at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.</p><p>The 6-foot-6, incoming Houston Rockets wing played the game of his life in their 127-118 bronze medal match victory against Team USA, and one of the things that fueled this performance was the hate that he has been receiving from the fans.</p><p>“It was so enjoyable. Obviously, the hate doesn’t stop, it keeps going,” he said following his 39-point, five-assist, four-rebound performance against the Americans.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2798691" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Aside from this, it was the support that he received from the people that mattered the most for Brooks that really pushed him to be great.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/10/23/fiba-canada-captures-bronze-outlasts-team-usa-in-ot">FIBA: Canada captures bronze, outlasts Team USA in OT</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/10/23/canada-targets-olympic-success-after-first-world-cup-bronze">FIBA: Canada targets Olympic success after first World Cup bronze</a></li></ul><p>“Having my country behind me, my head coach behind me, general manager, all these guys behind me, having to succeed, nothing with the politics, nothing with the contracts, you have to succeed,” said Brooks.</p><p>“It’s hard to battle against the world, [so] it’s just a great feeling to win bronze and continuously create history [for] this country.”</p><p>The former Memphis Grizzlies defensive specialist also made it clear that he only embraced the role of a villain so he can get an advantage over his opponents.</p><p>“It’s just a persona,” he stressed.</p><p>&quot;Just like Kobe Bryant, RIP to Kobe Bryant, and how he created the Black Mamba, [it’s just] a different persona when you come to the court,&quot; Brooks further explained.</p><p>“That’s just my persona, just on the court, [and] people love it. I’ve grown to love myself. [But] I’m a loving and caring guy who loves my kids, love my family, love my teammates, [and] just love the world as well.”</p><p>But Brooks maintained that despite getting the win against fan-favorite Team USA, he will still continue playing the role that he stars in once competition starts again.</p><p>“This is not gonna stop, we’re gonna keep on going. They love you when you’re up, like right now, but when you have a bad game, you right back to us, so we’ll never gonna be satisfied.”</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/10/23/kerr-laments-poor-defense-as-us-leave-world-cup-without-medal">Kerr laments poor defense as US leave World Cup without medal</a></li></ul><div><b>For more stories on the FIBA World Cup, click <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/fibaworldcup2023" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></div>

Embracing the villain role definitely worked wonders for Canada's Dillon Brooks at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Dillon Brooks on villain status: 'Just like Kobe, it’s just a persona'

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Dillon Brooks on villain status: 'Just like Kobe, it’s just a persona'

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 10, 2023 10:22 PM PHT

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Basketball

FIBA

FIBA World Cup

Canada

Dillon Brooks

Team USA

USA Basketball

Kobe Bryant

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