Pro Football Hall of Famer and Fox Sports personality Shannon Sharpe apologized for his actions during this past Friday's NBA game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers.
"As you probably have heard or seen Friday night at the Lakers game, I want to apologize for my behavior," Sharpe said during Monday's edition of "Undisputed," as shared by Jaclyn Hendricks of the New York Post. "I’ve preached for the last six-and-a-half years responsibility and accountability, and I take full responsibility for what transpired."
Television cameras picked up Dillon Brooks of the Grizzlies yelling toward Sharpe during the contest. Sharpe then shared some unpleasantries with Tee Morant, the father of Memphis star Ja Morant.
Dillion Brooks really started the beef between Shannon Sharpe and Tee Morant pic.twitter.com/V84FgXtzN0
— َ (@FeelLikeDrew) January 21, 2023
"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," Sharpe continued. “I should have lowered the temperature in the arena. Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand."
"I take full accountability for what transpired. I was wrong."@ShannonSharpe apologizes & addresses his altercation at the Lakers-Grizzlies game: pic.twitter.com/RNFBydr5A6
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) January 23, 2023
Over the weekend, Sean Keeley of Awful Announcing pointed out that Sharpe lashed out at certain fans who sit courtside during NBA games back in November 2021.
"Sitting courtside…They know right from wrong," Sharpe said at that time. "But somehow, and it’s been like this for a very long time. People think because they pay money – and we see this in restaurants, you think you can talk to your server any kinda way. You think because you’re paying an enormous amount of money, and the athletes are there to entertain you, you can say, you can do whatever you want."
Following Friday's matchup, Los Angeles' LeBron James left no doubt he was in Sharpe's corner.
LeBron on Shannon Sharpe: “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.” pic.twitter.com/bAHMuPZkix
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 21, 2023
Earlier that same night, Sharpe spoke with ESPN's Dave McMenamin about what occurred at the arena.
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
However, Sharpe insisted on Monday he was "sorry for all those that saw my actions and took offense to my actions."
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