Is Dillon Brooks really targeting Steph Curry's injured thumb?

Dillon Brooks has enough of a history with the Golden State Warriors he will never get the benefit of the doubt while making contact with a Warriors player. In the 2022 NBA playoffs, coach Steve Kerr said Brooks, then a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, "broke the code" when his flagrant 2 foul fractured Gary Payton's elbow.

Suspicions have been raised about Brooks' intent again as the veteran tone-setter of the Houston Rockets. While hounding Steph Curry throughout Houston's first-round series against Golden State, Brooks has been accused of swiping at Curry's injured thumb by Warriors fans on X. The conspiracy theory even made Golden State's TV broadcast for Wednesday's Game 5 — a 131-116 Rockets victory.

After Houston cut its series deficit to 3-2 to keep its season alive, Brooks was asked if he is intentionally trying to hit Curry's thumb, which has been a lingering injury for most of the season.

Brooks did not exactly plead innocent with his response.

"I've been playing the game," Brooks said. "Shoot, if you're going to come play the game injured or whatever you got, it's all about the ball.

"If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time. So whatever they're saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it."

Dillon Brooks on whether he's trying to get at Steph's thumb:

"If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that ankle every single time. So, whatever they're saying on the broadcast, they can keep saying it" pic.twitter.com/j3SwixMdDQ
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) May 1, 2025

When asked how he would respond to the same allegation, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka tersely replied: "I wouldn't."

Curry took the high road when asked about how Houston has been closing out on his jump shot. "You don't think about it. And if it's a foul, they (the referees) should call it. That's it," he said.

the way he repeated it. he cooked you. @OfficialNBARefs pic.twitter.com/NUdXc8ZDN0
— . (@stephenist) May 1, 2025

Draymond Green said he has "noticed" how the Rockets are targeting Curry's ailing thumb on his shooting hand. "I think it's pretty obvious. But it is what it is," he said.

Kerr didn't condemn Houston of any foul play because he says it's all within the rules, which currently allows contact on the shooting hand once the ball has been released on a shot attempt. He expects the NBA to change the rule next season because "players all over the league are just taking shots at guys' shooting hands after release because they know it's not going to be a foul."

"I'm very confident the league will fix it because it's only a matter of time before somebody breaks a thumb or breaks a hand," Kerr said.

"It's been happening across the league all year long," he added. "It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but we have to take it through the league process to get that changed."

Kerr after he was asked if he believes the Rockets are targeting Steph's injured thumb:

“Yeah, so the rule in the NBA is once the shot has been released, you’re allowed to hit the guys arm… So players all over the league are just taking shots at guys shooting hands after… pic.twitter.com/orAr9Ms4N8
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) May 1, 2025