Dillon Brooks is a Canadian professional basketball player playing in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies. At the publication of this post, Dillon was a third year player from Oregon Ducks and has since taken a giant leap after being sidelined with an injury his Sophomore season. As the back court partner to electrifying Ja Morant, the physical guard has proven invaluable to a surprising Grizzlies team that wasn’t expected to do much.

With increasing success in the league comes a higher profile. Fans and haters alike begin to wonder how much Dillon Brooks’ net worth is, who he is dating, what the marks on his forehead are, and other items of interest. We’re certain many have seen Brooks playing or watched him doing pre- and post game interviews (especially with his comments around Andre Iguodala situation) and have wondered: What is Dillon Brook’s race and ethnicity?

We had the same questions. All from a strictly curious standpoint. For these questions, the best way to figure out an NBA players’ presumably bi-racial background is to look at their parents.

Who is Dillon Brooks’ Mom?

Brooks was born January 22, 1996 to Anita Diane Brooks and father in Mississauga, Ontario. At the time of Dillon’s birth, his mother, who goes by Diane, was a Project Director for a major Canadian bank and his father was a construction worker.

From what we’ve read online, Diane has been the primary driving force behind Dillon’s success; supporting and pushing him when he needed it. Brooks recalled a time when it was snowing hard as the two drove 45 minutes to get Dillon to basketball practice. At some point in the drive, Brooks suggested that they turn around.

“My mom said, ‘You know if you don’t go to practice now I will probably never ever drive you to another basketball thing ever again.” That was one example of the tough love Diane gave Dillon, knowing that her young son’s dream was to make it to the NBA. “My mom knew that too, so she knew that giving me that little push and giving me that choice would benefit me in the long run.”

A lot of that tough love came from the fact that Dillon struggled in school early on with some learning disabilities so when he showed interest in basketball, Diane leveraged that to funnel his energy on the court and off; driving him to practices and buying him basketball magazines to help him improve his classroom skills.

Who is Dillon Brooks’ Father?

We did a lot of digging, but not much is known about Dillon’s father. We did find this little blurb in the Los Angeles Times briefly mentioning Dillon’s lineage on his father’s side.

Brooks comes from pugnacious ilk. His father’s family farmed the cold Canadian plains, he said, and sometimes they would wrestle among themselves. Brooks said his father became a construction worker and was once a boxer.

In January 2023, we received this email from someone claiming to work with Dillon’s father. In that email they said:

“I’ve worked with his (Brooks’ father). He is well known in the concrete industry.  He runs his own company.  His last name is a staple in the biz both on the east coast (Nova Scotia)  and Toronto.  He runs his own crews and is tough as a coffin nail.  His hands are waaay too big for his frame.  His squabble is legendary, as is with most of the Brooks”

If that email is to be believed, that along with the article description helps to attribute some of where Brooks gets his toughness on the court. Outside of that, there’s not much else we could locate about his father’s background.

Is Dillon Brooks Bi-Racial?

Without any images of his father, we have to lean on what we do have. This Oregonian article refers to Brooks as ” 6-foot-6, black and can attack the rim with ferocity” and we know his blond-haired mother appears to be Caucasian. When accepting those two parts as fact then we have an answer: Yes, Dillon Brooks is bi-racial or multiracial.

We’re certain his mental and physical toughness came from his parents, but in part, his fire comes from the fact that he doesn’t like being lumped into the American stereotype that Canadian basketball players aren’t tough.

“Soft,” Brooks told Oregon Live. “Canadians are soft. For sure. They’re very soft. They’re not really a basketball country, you know? The biggest stereotype is that we’re just soft.” Brooks spent three college seasons with Oregon. Despite his early struggles with stereotypes and in the classroom, Brooks’ competitiveness, heart and talent led the Oregon Ducks to the 2017 Final Four and led him into a really good NBA player.