Shannon Sharpe: Pro Football Hall of Famer in a courtside altercation with Memphis Grizzlies players

CNN
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Shannon Sharpe of the Pro Football Hall of Fame engaged in a heated exchange with Memphis Grizzlies players Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks during the Grizzlies’ 122-121 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

Sharpe, seated on the sidelines, had exchanged words with Brooks during the first half and was seen yelling at Morant at half-time.

Both players and Grizzlies teammate Steven Adams then approached Sharpe, who got up from his seat. Morant’s father, Tee, also got into a heated argument with Sharpe.

Referees, players and security were forced to separate the men before Sharpe, who works as a commentator for Fox Sports, was led off. He later returned to his seat.

At the end of the third quarter, Sharpe shook hands with Tee Morant and the pair embraced by the end of the game.

After the game, Brooks initially declined to discuss the altercation, saying, “I don’t talk about that. you can ask him He’s the blogger or whatever he is. I don’t really care about any of that. Next question.”

But when asked if fans should behave like Sharpe, he said: “A regular pedestrian like him? no He should never have returned to the game. But this is LA”

Meanwhile, Morant declined to comment on the situation when asked by reporters, saying, “I’m not going to address that.”

“They didn’t want that smoke,” Sharpe told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin at halftime.

“They talk and argue so much, and I don’t care about those arguments. It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron.”

The Fox Sports commentator is famous for his outspoken love for the Lakers and NBA star LeBron James, who Brooks defended against in the game.

Sharpe regularly appears on his show Undisputed wearing a James jersey and has even appeared in a goat mask to voice his opinion that James is the all-time greatest in the NBA.

James, who scored 23 points and is now 261 points away from beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record for all points scored, appreciated Sharpe’s presence on the court.

“I mean, I ride 365 days with Shannon, 366 in a leap year, 24 hours a day,” he said after the Lakers’ win.

“Well, that’s my type. So I will always have his back and he will always have my back. He sure can talk to the best of them.”