Reacts: Dillon Brooks takes the throne of NBA’s biggest villain

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Los Angeles Lakers fans and fans across the country.
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It would be hard to script a worse series for Dillon Brooks than the one he went through against the Lakers. After helping the Grizzlies win one (1) game, Brooks started trash talking. He subsequently was buried so deep by the Lakers that he will forever be a punchline of NBA jokes and memes.

Brooks joked about poking bears and then he and the Grizzles were mauled at the end of the series. He tried to be an agitator, looked more like a jester, and came away as the league’s top villain.

This week’s SB Nations Reacts survey reveals that fans view Brooks as the league’s biggest villain, over that of even Draymond Green.

Much of what tipped fans over the edge regarding Brooks is the front-running nature of his antics. After talking the talk following a Game 2 win, Brooks refused to walk the walk after losses in three of the next four games.

And that refusal to talk to the media after Games 3, 4 and 6 caught the league’s attention and got him in some trouble.

Now, despite Brooks becoming the biggest villain, NBA fans weren’t quite all the way in on the Lakers just yet. In another poll in this week’s survey, the Lakers still came away as the team fans were rooting against the most.

With this poll being taken before Game 6, it’s probably safe to assume a fair amount of those people rooting against Memphis are now going to be rooting against the Lakers.

But don’t mind us. We’re just being a plucky underdog that is trying to earn respect of the fans and make their way through the playoffs.

We believe.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.