Basketball Fans React To Sharpe Trying To Fight Grizzlies

A game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers took quite the unexpected turn as the two teams made their way into the locker rooms for halftime. Videos from Crypto.com Arena showed that several Grizzlies players, primarily Dillon Brooks, jawed with Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe.

This did not sit well with Sharpe, who was pretty fired up. Things began to escalate when Sharpe, Grizzlies big man Steven Adams, and Tee Morant had to be held back from one another, which led to Sharpe releasing a statement to Dave McMenamin of ESPN where he said “they didn’t want this smoke, Dave.”

ESPN video of Shannon and the Grizz + Tee Morant pic.twitter.com/wSbKc1jLz1

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 21, 2023

Shannon Sharpe spent halftime in the tunnel with security before returning to his seat for the third quarter. He granted ESPN a brief interview explaining what happened with the Grizzlies on his way to his seat: pic.twitter.com/XZNw6sQhEG

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 21, 2023

As Ja Morant’s father explained to Mark Jackson of ESPN and Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, the incident did not lead to any hard feelings, and the two actually seemed to patch things up in the third quarter — neither Morant nor Sharpe were removed from the arena after the skirmish.

Tee Morant and Shannon Sharpe just cleared the air during the third quarter intermission pic.twitter.com/a6Hrg8AsH8

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 21, 2023

It's all love between Shannon Sharpe and Tee Morant. pic.twitter.com/iSNeikINp1

— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2023

Of course, this kind of event is the exact sort of thing that leads to basketball fans firing off jokes, particularly about how no human on the planet actually wants to get into a fight with Steven Adams.

Shannon Sharpe: Come over here and say it to my face then!
Steven Adams: Ok
Shannon Sharpe: I didn’t mean you

— Céad Míle Fáilte (@ColeyMick) January 21, 2023

I would imagine that any man as large as Shannon Sharpe hasn't lost many fights, but I still don't imagine I'd want one with a man as large and with hair as luxurious as Steven Adams https://t.co/piGStZrim1

— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) January 21, 2023

says a lot that there are like 12 players standing there but every single team official and security guard is trying to get in front of Steven Adams like he's a tiger that escaped from the zoo https://t.co/4keln4Tnlc

— Brian (@BrianJNBA) January 21, 2023

not a mention of steven adams lol https://t.co/lEVRMBNkmD

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 21, 2023

There were, unsurprisingly, some mentions of Sharpe’s co-host, Skip Bayless, and how he’s react to this.

"And guess what, Shannon? You were looking **small** next to Steven Adams. I saw the fear in your eyes." pic.twitter.com/3sIPIgg2Td

— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) January 21, 2023

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless getting themselves into controversies to boost Undisputed ratings: pic.twitter.com/KEwrxosKqY

— Brian (@byyoon7) January 21, 2023

There was even a video tweeted out by the NBA of Brooks being mic’d up. It, unsurprisingly, did not include anything between himself and Sharpe, which had some fans upset.

Now y’all know this ain’t the sound we wanna hear from Brooks. https://t.co/NoYCxgRzXd

— WBW (@HUCosell) January 21, 2023

Even funnier! Let’s hear the audio of him and Shannon going back and forth! 😂

— K March (@notthefakekylem) January 21, 2023

They trolling us, you know what we wanna hear.

Unc wanted the smoke!

— Jeffery Murphy (@jeff3rymurphy) January 21, 2023

show him getting cooked by unc pic.twitter.com/5ZBwhNj5Rj

— Kevo 🥷🏼 (@KevoWilloo) January 21, 2023

JJ Redick and Andre Iguodala’s attention was focused on one thing: Sharpe’s cardigan.

Shannon Sharpe is wearing an elite button-up cardigan tonight. Need to know the brand.

— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) January 21, 2023

That cardigan smooth tho!

— andre (@andre) January 21, 2023

But ultimately, there were just a whole lot of jokes about what ended up being the most surreal moment of the 2022-23 NBA season so far.

Unc Shannon Sharpe to Tee Morant : pic.twitter.com/UfqAuraL9T

— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 21, 2023

*The grizzlies beating Shannon Sharpe within an inch of his life*

“Underdog put that on a t shirt!” https://t.co/FDgf1HHqSl

— Trill Withers (@TylerIAm) January 21, 2023

Shannon Sharpe: “You want some of this?”

Tee Morant: pic.twitter.com/j1Ytdr0w7B

— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) January 21, 2023

Tee Morant: you tryna take me on?!!

Shannon Sharpe: pic.twitter.com/MwreRzkx6B

— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) January 21, 2023

Shannon Sharpe taking on the entire Grizzlies roster and Usher Morant… pic.twitter.com/PaVRnR3gkE

— Eric Robinson (@_Eric_Robinson) January 21, 2023

And while the Grizzlies’ official Twitter account didn’t say anything explicitly, well, we don’t think this video getting tweeted out was a coincidence.