Sharpe apologizes to Brooks, Morant
Shannon Sharpe was noticeably silent over the weekend regarding his viral verbal altercation with Dillon Brooks, Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles during Friday’s game against the Lakers. On his FS1 show “Undisputed” on Monday, Sharpe addressed the matter with an apology.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer apologized to the Grizzlies and specifically Brooks and Morant for his actions at Crypto.com Arena. He also apologized to, among others, Lakers star forward Lebron James, Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss and fans who were watching as he needed to be separated from Brooks, Morant and Steven Adams.
“I’ve preached for six and a half years responsibility and accountability and I take full responsibility for what transpired,” Sharpe said Monday during a three-minute segment, “It does not matter what Dillon Brooks said or how many times he said it, me being the responsible person, me having the platform that 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.”
Sharpe and Brooks exchanged profanities at the end of the second quarter before Sharpe stood up to yell more words. Brooks approached him, along with Morant and Adams, before security stepped in to between them.
Sharpe also yelled at Tee Morant, Ja’s father, before being escorted off the court. He returned to his seat to start the second half.
Sharpe and Tee Morant eventually hugged and smoothed things over before the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ 122-121 loss. Brooks later called Sharpe both a “pedestrian” and a “blogger” before he and teammate Desmond Bane wondered why he wasn’t ejected for his conduct.
In his apology to Brooks, Sharpe called him a “fierce competitor” and appreciated seeing him up close to “get a sense of why he is, what he is and how he’s wired the way he’s wired.” He also wished him the best of luck this season before apologizing to Ja Morant.
“(Co-host) Skip (Bayless) and I talk about you a lot but to see what you do,” Sharpe said to Morant. “The way that you’re able to elevate, lead the floor, contort your body and finish at the rim is unbelievable and extremely impressive.”
James said he supported Sharpe and had his back. But Sharpe, an outspoken fan of James, apologized for putting the Lakers superstar in that position as well as his stylist, Hollywood Mugler, for any unwanted attention as a client.
Sharpe also apologized to his family and hoped his statement would be a lesson for his grandson to learn from.
“One day you’re going to be old enough and you’re going to see what transpired in that arena,” Sharpe said. “But I also hope you get an opportunity to see this apology that I’m giving because I was wrong and I’m never going to be too big to say I’m sorry.
“I’m never going to be too big to say that I was wrong in that situation. I was absolutely wrong.
Sharpe ended his statement by apologizing to his employer, Fox Sports, and fellow staff members who had to answer any questions regarding his behavior.