"You can tell unk from the crib" - NFL players and fans back Shannon Sharpe in fight with Steven Adams and Ja Morant's father

Shannon Sharpe got into an altercation with Ja Morant's father and Steven Adams as the Memphis Grizzlies took on the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA game. It stemmed from an exchange of comments with Dillon Brooks earlier.

Though the back-and-forth remained strictly verbal, both sides were extremely animated and forceful in making their points.

They had to be separated by security personnel who had to intervene to make sure that the altercation did not escalate between exchanges of words.

Given Shannon Sharpe's status as a former NFL player, a Pro Football Hall-of-Famer, and now a pundit who appears regularly on our TV screens, it was not surprising that other people had an opinion on the whole beef.

Players and fans quickly made their feelings known about the whole episode, with many backing him and others disagreeing with him.

Storm in a Teacup: Shannon Sharpe and Ja Morant's father make peace after their altercation

Despite tempers running high at a point during the game, Shannon Sharpe was seen making up with Ja Morant's father during the game. It was nice to see, considering what had gone on before, when it looked like a full-on brawl was there for the taking if others had not intervened.

Tee Morant, in fact, said that his blood pressure did not go up a bit and that he has a bunch of respect for Shannon Sharpe. After the Grizzlies lost to the Lakers, he must have been hoping that his son had shown the kind of poise and focus that he had.

The former NFL player also seemed extremely willing to forgive and forget the whole mess, even though he was certainly hotter under his collar than Tee Morant was during the spat. Shannon Sharpe has always been critical, though, of the Memphis Grizzlies players and their comments about various things, even though they have yet to win anything.

He has made his feelings clear on his show before, and after their loss, the losing players might do well to heed his word. Ask any Memphis fan and they would rather lose an altercation with Sharpe than lose a game like they did here today.

Tee Morant certainly does not seem to be cut from that same cloth, though, and it was great to see him calm temperatures down and not add more fuel to the fire. The equanimity and humility that he showed could and should be something that Ja Morant imbibes from his family going forward.