Meet 'Dillon the villain': The NBA's biggest antagonist beloved by teammates

DILLON BROOKS RACKED up two technical fouls. In one of his first runs with the Phoenix Suns , the physical, fiery forward -- as he frequently does -- vehemently disagreed with some of the whistles. And, much to the amusement of his new teammates, the local refs the Suns had hired to call this September pickup game inside the team's practice facility quickly rang Brooks up. "That's when I kind of knew he was different," Suns guard Collin Gillespie told ESPN with a chuckle. The Suns desperately needed "different" after the first two full seasons under Mat Ishbia's ownership were epic failures. Phoenix landed in the lottery last year despite having the highest payroll in NBA history, forcing the brash billionaire to reconsider his all-in approach, moving on from the Suns' splashiest, most expensive acquisitions by opting to trade Kevin Durant and waive Bradley Beal . Ishbia considered the Suns' too-often lackadaisical approach to be even more embarrassing than their 36-46 record. Ishbia wanted his franchise to reflect the scrappiness and toughness that he was taught as a walk-on guard at Michigan State under legendary, hard-nosed coach Tom Izzo. Enter Dillon "the Villain," the relentlessly intense veteran wing who the Suns insisted on being part of the return from the Houston Rockets in the Durant deal . Brooks, perhaps best known for his bombastic trash talking and controversial, confrontational tactics, describes himself as a "contagious breath of new fresh air and energy." Like the Rockets a couple of years before, the Suns brought in Brooks, rough edges and all, to be a driving force in the franchise's cultural reset. "He's exactly the type of player [who fits] what we talk about here in Phoenix, what we want to be, the identity of the Suns," Ishbia told ESPN. "He gets up more shots than everybody else before practice. He cares about winning. He plays defense, he plays offense, he's a leader. He's tough. He's doing everything. "We wanted Dillon. I envisioned him from a cultural perspective, a leadership perspective and an impact perspective at a really high level. He's been even better than expected." Phoenix, widely expected to miss the playoffs again, has been one of the NBA's most pleasant surprises midway through the season. The Suns have a 24-16 record and sit seventh in the Western Conference standings , a half-game behind the Rockets. Brooks' impact has been immense, as his snarling presence has helped shape the team's hardworking personality. It's almost a bonus that Brooks is having the best offensive season of his nine-year career, averaging 21.3 points as the second option behind face of the franchise Devin Booker . "Anybody that matches up with him and gets annoyed by him or falls into his antics, you understand already that that's somebody you would love to be a teammate with," Booker said. "Especially a guy that goes out there and guards other teams' star players. People still might get off on him, might get their numbers on him, but...

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