During halftime of Friday's game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers, several members of the Grizzlies, including Dillon Brooks, and Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe got involved in a verbal altercation courtside at Crypto.com Arena. Referees and arena security had to intervene and separate Sharpe, Brooks, Steven Adams, Ja Morant, and Morant's father, Tee Morant.
Sharpe ended up being escorted into the tunnel by arena security where he stayed until he made his way back to his seat for the starting of the second half.
"They didn't want this smoke," Sharpe told ESPN during halftime. "They do all that 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--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."
On Monday, Sharpe took some time to apologize for his actions.
"I take full responsibility for what transpired. It does not matter what Dillon Brooks said or how many times he said it," Sharpe said. "Me being the responsible person, me having the platform I have and having so many people look up to me, I was wrong. I should have lowered the temperature in the arena. Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand."
Even though the situation got heated between Sharpe and Tee Morant, the two shook hands and shared a hug following the conclusion of the third quarter. Following the final buzzer, the two shared another hug and clearly were on good terms.
"Shannon didn't do anything," Tee Morant told ESPN. "Hey, he was doing like we do in South Carolina. We talk our s--t. ... South Carolina, stand up!"
The Lakers ended up pulling out a 122-121 comeback win in the final seconds thanks to a late three-point play from Dennis Schroder. LeBron James finished with 23 points on 8-of-21 shooting on the night.
"I mean, I ride with Shannon for 365 days, 366 on a leap year, 24/7," James said following the game. "So, that's my guy. So I'll always have his back, and he's got mine. He can talk with the best of them, for sure."
