On Wednesday evening, the Phoenix Suns picked up a narrow home win over the Brooklyn Nets, pushing their record to 28-19 on the 2025-26 NBA season. The Suns have been arguably the most surprising team in the NBA this year, taking a major step forward despite trading Kevin Durant in the offseason.
One of the big reasons why the Suns have been so good has been the play of Dillon Brooks, the longtime universal NBA antagonist who is posting career numbers in his first year in the desert.
Recently, former Suns legend Charles Barkley revealed that he voted Brooks to be a member of the All-Star team this year.
“I put Dillon Brooks [on my all-star reserves team]… I think we’re going to announce it tomorrow, probably,” said Barkley, per SiriusXM NBA Radio on X, formerly Twitter.
Barkley then made a comparison between Brooks and another NBA enforcer type who is headed for the Hall of Fame.
“What’s different than what he does than Draymond? What Dillon Brooks is doing for the Phoenix Suns is similar and comparable to what Draymond does for the Warriors when they were rolling, and he was like the third or fourth All-Star,” said Barkley.
Overall, few could have seen production like this coming from Brooks this year. The small forward is averaging north of 20 points per game, adding an ability to make shots off the dribble and create his own offense, while remaining an elite spot-up shooter and a lockdown defender on the other end of the floor.
Brooks' tenacity has also rubbed off on his Suns teammates, who are playing with a fire that they never had in the last few years when the Durant experiment crashed and burned.
At the present moment, the Suns have a legit chance at a top six seed in the Western Conference, and Brooks is arguably the biggest reason why.
