There are a lot of pros and cons when it comes to being a villain in sports. When the team is winning, the villains are beloved, and when the team is losing, they are often the first to be blamed and scapegoated. They frequently leave in disgrace.
Dillon Brooks was tossed to the curb by the Memphis Grizzlies and blamed for the team’s failures on his way out the door. Former Suns fan favorite Jae Crowder, who was the last true villain in Phoenix, was sent home for months before he was traded. In 2021,
Crowder did the salsa dance after beating the Lakers in the playoffs, and one year later, he played his last game as a Sun in a brutal loss against the Dallas Mavericks in that franchise-haunting Game 7.
Draymond Green has built a Hall of Fame career on being a villain, but has also been blamed for blowing the Warriors’ 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, and has multiple embarrassing suspensions for physical encounters with teammates, including Jordan Poole and former Suns player Jusuf Nurkic.
Villains are dangerous, but every good team needs someone with a screw loose, and thank goodness for the Suns, they found Dillon Brooks and Collin Gillespie.
The Phoenix Suns were rudderless before trading for Brooks. Now, there is a real culture of competitive toughness and a villain identity that has unified this Suns team because of their leaders. Brooks should get a lot of the credit, but it goes all the way to the top of the organization. Mat Ishbia promised to field a team that would outcompete opposing teams night after night and then did it. He and Suns management brought in Brooks, elevated Gillespie, and empowered others to implement his vision.
While many doubted his vision of assembling a band of misfits, underdogs, and villains around Devin Booker, it has paid off so far this season. Undrafted free agent and heart-warming underdog story Collin Gillespie has become another fan favorite because of his incredible play this season, including a game-winning basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a career-high performance that had actor Austin Butler asking, “Who is that guy?”
However, do not let the heart-warming underdog story fool you; Gillespie is one of the most ruthless and competitive players on the team, which has earned him the nickname “Villain Junior” from Brooks.
While Gillespie is not the instigator on the court like Brooks is, he is annoyingly everywhere. Gillespie is around every rebound looking to slap, tip, strip, or steal the ball away. Any loose ball seems to be his because he is relentless on both sides of the court. Lose track of him on offense for a split second, and he is shooting a wide-open three. Too casual with the ball? Gillespie is all over that. The Suns are first in steals per game in the NBA because of Brooks and Gillespie, and everyone else is following their lead.
The credit should also go to Suns head coach Jordan Ott and franchise cornerstone Devin Booker, who have empowered Brooks, Gillespie, and others on the roster to be 100% themselves and play with confidence. This freedom that the Suns have instilled in the organization is the kind that allows an undermanned Suns team to beat a mostly healthy Minnesota team without Devin Booker and Jalen Green, the franchise’s unquestioned top two talented players.
The Suns continually fight above their weight in talent and have shown that they can never be counted out.
Already this season, the Suns have dominated a Spurs team and made Victor Wembanyama look human, have a thrilling comeback win from an eight-point deficit with under a minute left against the Timberwolves, and have two wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Timberwolves without Devin Booker in the lineup for seven of those eight quarters. Jalen Green has spent all but one game out of the Suns’ lineup this season, but the Suns have survived that because of the play of their villains.
Gillespie has played his way into what some feel should be a full-time starting spot in the rotation when the roster is at full strength, and is at minimum in the race for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Meanwhile, Brooks is legitimately playing his way into All-Star conversations and leading the Suns through the toughest stretch of 14 games the Suns will play all season.
Brooks and Gillespie are the ring leaders, but it has been a collective group effort for the early-season success.
The once villainized Grayson Allen is playing the best basketball of his career this season and is thriving in Ott’s system. Jordan Goodwin has gone from being the last person kept on the roster this offseason to being one of the Suns’ most vital players off the bench this season. Royce O’Neale has suddenly become one of the Suns’ best ball handlers and playmakers on the team recently, and is shooting the ball at a high clip. Ryan Dunn has continued to develop and gain confidence throughout his second season, and his activity and relentlessness have led to some incredible highlights. His energy off the bench is unhinged, but in a good way. The same can be said for Oso Ighodaro, the Suns’ young bench unit’s blitzing defense, with Ighodaro in the game, has flustered opposing offenses on an almost nightly basis.
Led by Brooks and Gillespie, this team, which was devoid of assets, has scratched and clawed its way out of the muck at the bottom of the Western Conference and is appointment viewing night after night. There will be nights when Brooks, Gillespie, and the rest of the team struggle. There will also be instances, such as when the Suns faced the Rockets, where they are overmatched and many flaws are exposed.
Will Brooks shoot too much? Yes.
Will Brooks talk too much? Probably.
Will there be nights where Brooks, Gillespie, and others frustrate us? Absolutely.
There are still losses, struggles, and failures on the horizon for these villains. It is easy to love the villains when the turnaround fadeaways and leaning threes are going in, and the trash talk is coming in wins. As a Suns community, we also have to accept these villains at their lowest points. Because we do not get the highs this year by reigning them in. Instead, we have to continue to support them to be unapologetically themselves and let them continue to lead the franchise in the right direction, forward.
