Fox Sports personality and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe had to be separated from Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant’s father, Tee, at halftime of a game between Memphis and the Lakers on Friday night.
Sharpe and Tee Morant were seen jawing at one another in the stands as the Grizzlies led on the scoreboard. Tee Morant got into a shouting match with Sharpe and the two were broken up by security.
In video of the incident, Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks can be seen yelling in Sharpe’s direction as he walked back to the Grizzlies bench. Sharpe subsequently yells back at Brooks, motioning for him to come toward him. Grizzlies center Steven Adams then approached Sharpe, and the altercation grew increasingly heated as other players followed. Sharpe was sitting court-side.
In the melee, Tee Morant then walked toward Sharpe, and appeared to exchange words. As Tee Morant was whisked away by security, Sharpe shouted and pointed in his direction as he attempted to approach Sharpe, but he also was stopped by security.
“They didn’t want this smoke,” Sharpe told ESPN after the incident. “They do all that talking and jockeying and I ain’t about the jockeying. It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron. He said ‘F–k’ me I said, ‘F–k’ 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 didn’t want no problems. But I wanted anything they had. Don’t let these fools fool you now.”
Sharpe and Tee Morant talked to security in the tunnels at the arena before returning to their seats when the second half started. They hugged at the end of the third quarter.
Brooks was asked whether Sharpe or any fans should be allowed to return to their seats after getting into an argument with a player?
“A regular pedestrian like him? No. He should have never come back into the game, but it’s LA,” Brooks said.
Ja Morant and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins refused to discuss the incident after the Lakers rallied for a 122-121 victory and snapped Memphis’ 11-game winning streak. Morant scored 22 points, while Brooks scored nine points on just 4-17 shooting from the field.
— with AP