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LeBron James Claps Back at Grizzlies After Shannon Sharpe Locked Horns With Ja Morant’s Father and Teammates

Published 01/21/2023, 8:50 AM EST

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The latest game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies was full of chaos and NBA superstar LeBron James was a major reason why. The game had to be temporarily halted in the second quarter when NFL veteran Shannon Sharpe got into an altercation with the majority of the Grizzlies roster. Sharpe, who is an ardent King James fan, took on several Grizzlies players including Ja Morant‘s father, Tee Morant. After the game ended, James gave his take on the mid-game dispute making his stance clear during the media conference.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the Friday night game held at Crypto.com Arena. King James led the team to victory, putting an end to the Grizzlies’ 11-game-winning streak.

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The verbal altercation began after Shannon Sharpe engaged in a trash-talk with Memphis Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks. When the shouting match threatened to get out of hand, several basketball officials and staff had to step in to break the fight. Fortunately, both parties calmed down by the end of half-time after which Sharpe returned back and reclaimed his courtside seat. The reporters then asked for LeBron’s opinion on the matter during the post-game media interview. James defended the 3x Super Bowl champion and made it clear that he would always have Sharpe’s back.

“I ride with Shannon 365 days — 366 on a leap year — 24/7. So that’s my guy. I always got his back. And he’s got mine. He can talk with the best of them, for sure,” James said.

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According to what Sharpe told Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Fox Sports commentator apparently mocked Brooks saying he was physically smaller to guard LeBron James. Brooks didn’t take it too well and fired back at him with some words of his own. As their argument got louder, several Grizzlies players got involved and so did Ja Morant’s father.

Sharpe said, “It started with Dillon Brooks. I said he was too small to guard LeBron. He said, ‘F—‘ me. I said, ‘F— you’ back. 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.”

Lakers snap the Grizzlies’ winning streak

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LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers beat the second-leading team of the Western Conference by 122-121. Russell Westbrook led the team scoring 29 points, five rebounds, and six assists. King James added 23 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.

“We were resilient the whole game. We stuck with the game plan. We’ve given ourselves a chance to win games,” James told ESPN.

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WATCH THIS STORY: How much money do NBA analysts like Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, and Stephen A. Smith make

Grizzlies’ Ja Morant scored 22 points making 14 points in the third quarter. Star guard Tyus Jones added 20 points and 10 rebounds in the losing game.

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Written by:

Siyari Debbarma

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Siyari Debbarma is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. She is currently pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering from Abascus Institute of Engineering and Management. She previously interned at the Y-East Organization as a content writer.
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Edited by:

Jayant Chhabra