After Fox analyst Shannon Sharpe got into a courtside altercation with Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks, Tee Morant (the father of Ja Morant) and Grizzlies center Steven Adams on Friday night, Lakers star LeBron James came to the defense of Sharpe in the team’s postgame press conference.
“I ride with Shannon 365 days—366 on a leap year—24/7. So that’s my guy,” James said. “I always got his back. And he’s got mine. He can talk with the best of them, for sure.”
On Saturday afternoon, James doubled down in his defense of Sharpe with a post on Instagram.
James posted a picture of a visibly angry Sharpe on Friday night with the caption “If ‘I wish a Muthaf— would’ was a person. MOOD. Unk VIBES!”
The courtside argument began when Sharpe was heckling Brooks and his ability to guard James. The heckling became personal for Brooks, who was seen arguing with Sharpe from across the court as he walked off the court heading into halftime.
The incident escalated when Adams came to the defense of Brooks and approached Sharpe on the sideline. Before long, Sharpe was seen shouting at Adams and Tee Morant. Several parties got involved to separate Sharpe, Morant, Adams and others, including arena security, assistant coaches and other players.
Brooks called Sharpe a “regular pedestrian” after the game and argued that Sharpe should not be back in the arena after the incident.
