FROM hate to love.
Acknowledged as the villain of the FIBA World Cup, Dillon Brooks ended up as a hero after leading Canada to a hard-fought 127-118 overtime win over Team USA for the nation's first-ever podium finish in the quadrennial tournament.
Brooks had a game-high of 39 points including a near perfect 7-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc as the Canadians survived a last-minute comeback by the Americans in regulation.
READ: Dillon Brooks hears MVP chants as Canada beats US for bronze
Saving his best for last, Brooks’ total output was the most for a player in a medal-winning team in FIBA World Cup history, while his seven three-pointers tied the record of Kevin Durant in the 2010 World Cup finals against Turkey.
His numbers and performance weren’t lost to the 10,666 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday that when the newly-signed Houston Rockets forward was taking his free throws, the crowd was serenading him with chants of MVP! MVP!

And to think he was jeered for most of the time when he played his first game in Manila onwards during the start of the Final phase.
He later disclosed the same treatment was given him in Jakarta, where Canada played during the group phase.
But the hate only motivates him, according to the 6-foot-6 cager.
“From the beginning, everybody was throwing shots on Twitter, Instagram, watching me play. But it just helps me getting better and better each and everyday. It motivates me to be better on the court, for my teammates, or whatever team I play for. It just motivates me to keep going,” said Brooks, mild-mannered and soft-spoken during the post-game presser.
Known for his bad image in the NBA following previous tussles with LeBron James and Donovan Mitchell, the 27-year-old product of University of Oregon said it’s just an image of him on the court, which he eventually began to love.

“It’s just a persona, people love it. I’ve grown to loving myself,” added Brooks, who likened his image to the late Kobe Bryant's famous Mamba Mentality.
“It’s just like Kobe Bryant, rest in peace in Kobe, how he had to figure out how to create the Black Mamba, having a different persona when he enters the court,” he said. “So I guess that’s my persona, the villain. Just on the court, but I’m a loving and caring guy. I love my kids, I love my family, love my teammates and love the world as well.”
Brooks began representing Canada back in 2015 and won a silver in the Pan American Games.
But winning for his country a first-ever World Cup bronze medal was gratifying, he said.
“It was so enjoyable. Obviously the hate doesn’t stop, it keeps going. But having my country behind me, my coach behind, the general manager behind me, all these guys behind me, I know I can succeed. It’s just a great feeling winning the bronze,” said Brooks.
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