Add Shannon Sharpe and Stephen Jackson to the chorus of media members ripping the Grizzlies for how they have handled the Dillon Brooks breakup.
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Grizzlies told the free agent Brooks, who prodded LeBron James early in the first-round series that was ultimately lost to the Lakers, and shot just 31 percent from the field in the six-game series, that they would not be retaining him “under any circumstances.”
“I’m disappointed because it looks like to me the Grizzlies are trying to scapegoat this man into their season not being the season they thought it would be,” Sharpe told co-host Skip Bayless on FS1’s “Undisputed”.
“Skip, I’m a firm believer, what type of environment you have, especially if it’s sports-related, you either coach a behavior or you condone a behavior. Now which is it, [Grizzlies coach] Taylor Jenkins? Because when they were chirping last year, and they started this last year, you didn’t say anything. The organization did not get this under control.”
Sharpe had to be separated from Tee Morant, the father of Grizzlies star Ja Morant, earlier this season during a Lakers-Grizzlies game, and has generally been critical of the way Memphis players have carried themselves this year.
He said that Brooks was the “least” of the Grizzlies’ problems, implying that Ja Morant’s repeated off-court issues were a far bigger issue in submarining the team’s season, and saying directly that Morant is the biggest trash-talker on the team.
“This is some bull-jive,” Sharpe said. “They didn’t lose to the Lakers because of what Dillon Brooks said. Grizzlies have bigger issues and nobody talks more than Ja.”
Jackson, speaking on “I Am Athlete,” also felt Brooks was unfairly scapegoated.
“For me, I think it’s bulls–t,” Jackson said.
“Yeah [Brooks] has got a chip on his shoulder. Yeah he said some things. But he ain’t the first player to do that. Ron Artest did it. I did it. Draymond [Green] does it. I don’t understand, I guess he poked the wrong bear.”
The criticism by Sharpe and Jackson echoed that of ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins and Ringer founder Bill Simmons, who crushed the Grizzlies for burying Brooks on the way out the door on Tuesday.
