Levon Campbell
Staff Writer
The highly anticipated matchup between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers was interrupted by a heated altercation on the sidelines on Jan. 20, 2023 at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
The altercation involved National Football League (NFL) Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe, several Grizzlies teammates, and Tee Morant, the father of Ja Morant, shortly after the halftime buzzer sounded.
Sharpe and Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks were seen on the court exchanging words with each other. While at first, it seemed like friendly banter, Sharpe gestured for Brooks to come over to him which created tension in the arena.
This caused Steven Adams, Grizzlies’ center, along with a mob of players and security to congregate on the sidelines. Ja Morant and his father also joined the group in confronting Sharpe with Tee Morant and Sharpe exchanging words before being separated.
During halftime, Sharpe talked to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin and provided some insight into how the situation occurred.
“They do all that talking and jockeying and I ain’t all about that jockeying. It started with Dillion Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron,” Sharpe said to the ESPN reporter.
Sharpe claimed that the two exchanged profane words, before the situation escalated but he remained unbothered. He returned to his courtside seat after halftime where he continued to cheer on LeBron James and the Lakers to secure the victory over the Grizzlies.
Sharpe was shown shaking hands and hugging Tee Morant at the end of the game, displaying that the altercation was settled between the two.
Despite Sharpe and Tee Morant settling their differences, Brooks remained unsettled about the interaction. Brooks felt that Sharpe should not have been able to return to his seat after the altercation.
Brooks received backlash immediately for his statement after fans were not pleased that he was unfamiliar with Sharpe’s involvement in the sports industry.
Jonas Goss, a freshman electrical engineering major from Jackson, Miss., expressed his confusion for Brooks’ comments against Sharpe.
“He’s in the Hall of Fame and won three championships so how is he a pedestrian?” Goss questioned.
Sharpe issued a public apology on his daily show “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed” on Jan. 23.
“I take full responsibility for what transpired. It doesn’t matter what Dillion Brooks said or how many times he said it,” Sharpe said on-air. “Me being the responsible person, me having the platform I have, and having so many people look up to me, I was wrong.”
He added, “I should have lowered the temperature in the arena. Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand.”
Sharpe also apologized to the Lakers organization and James himself. However, in a press conference following the Lakers win, the Lakers superstar emphasized that he will support Sharpe regardless of what happened.
Vance Owens, Instant Replay Technician for Athletes at Jackson State, believed that the confrontation between Sharpe and the players didn’t require an apology since it was just the heat of the game.
“It was just two competitors that were just talking noise, nothing too special.” Owens said. “I think he had to apologize because of the platform he is on. But other than that, he didn’t really have to apologize for that night,” Owens stated.
Jamarcus Davis, a junior civil engineering major from Cleveland, Miss., agreed with Owens and believed that Sharpe was not in the wrong during the altercation either.
“They just didn’t like Shannon, he was just being honest,” Davis said. “He didn’t have to apologize, he just did what was necessary, and they responded with violence.”
While most students think that Sharpe didn’t have to apologize for the conflict, they are glad that he did to save face. The incident has fizzled down to only “trash talk” amongst sports buffs.
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