Friday night’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers included an absolutely bizarre incident between some of the Grizzlies and Shannon Sharpe, the Pro Football Hall of Famer and FS1 host who was in attendance.
The altercation started with Sharpe and Memphis guard Dillon Brooks yelling at each other from across the court. After that, Brooks’ teammates, Ja Morant and Steven Adams, went over toward Sharpe, who was standing in front of his courtside seat. Other people, including Ja’s father, Tee Morant, came over and he continued the argument with Sharpe as he was being escorted away.
When Sharpe returned to his seat in the second half, the incident seemed to be smoothed over. Only, it wasn’t — at least not to the liking of the referees. Rob Fischer, the Grizzlies sideline reporter, reported that the talking between Sharpe and Brooks continued to a point where referee Zach Zarba warned Sharpe that he’d be ejected from the game if it continued.
So, what started it all? Well, thanks to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, we have Sharpe’s side of the story — and it’s a doozy.
“They didn’t want this smoke, Dave. They do all the talking and jockeying and I ain’t about that jockeying. It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron. He said, ‘F—‘ me. I said, ‘F— you back. He started to come at me and I said, ‘you don’t want these problems.’ And then Ja came out of nowhere talking. He definitely didn’t want these problems. Then the dad came and he obviously don’t want no problems. But I wanted anything they had. Don’t let these fools fool you now.”
This drew a lot of reactions from basketball fans noted. A few noted that Sharpe conveniently (and wisely) left Adams out of his conversation with McMenamin.
More comments, though, were highly critical of Sharpe’s behavior.
Why
Did
They
Let
Him
Go
Back
To
His
Seat
— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) January 21, 2023
Spectrum LA’s Nikki Kay later tweeted video of Sharpe and Tee Morant making up. So, at least in regards to Morant, Sharpe was right. He really didn’t want any problems.
[CJ Folger on Twitter, Dave McMenamin on Twitter]