Shannon Sharpe gets in heated argument with Morant at half

© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe, left, talks with Tee Morant, father of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, after an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. At halftime, Sharpe confronted Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks and center Steven Adams. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hall of Fame football player Shannon Sharpe had a heated courtside conversation with Memphis Grizzlies players Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks and Morant’s father at the end of the first half Friday night in a nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe, left, talks with Tee Morant, father of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, after an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. At halftime, Sharpe confronted Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks and center Steven Adams. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The Fox Sports personality exchanged words with Brooks throughout the first half and then yelled at Morant on the final possession of the second quarter. After the halftime buzzer sounded, Brooks yelled at Sharpe and Sharpe motioned toward Brooks.

© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe, center, stands up during the second half an NBA basketball game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. At halftime, Sharpe confronted Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks and center Steven Adams. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Morant walked toward Sharpe at his courtside seat before center Steven Adams stepped in front of him.

Tee Morant, Ja Morant’s father, also got involved in the conversation before security at Crypto.com arena separated everyone.

Sharpe, 54, yelled “I bet you won’t!” at Tee Morant as security guards tried to break things up.

Brooks initially did not want to comment, saying: “You can ask him about that. He’s the blogger or whatever he is,” before addressing it a little later.

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

Sharpe told an ESPN reporter at halftime that he was reacting to the Grizzlies’ chatter.

“They do all that talking and jockeying and I ain’t about that jockeying,” Sharpe said. “It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron.”

© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) shoots against Los Angeles Lakers forward Wenyen Gabriel (35) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

The former tight end said Brooks then swore at him, and he swore back. Brooks said that wasn’t the case and that he told Sharpe that James missed the shot.

“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.”

© Provided by The Associated Press – Sports Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks (24) fouls Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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.

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