After the game, James was asked about how the Grizzlies managed to get 39 second-chance points, the most in an NBA game in the last 25 years, with Adams being a big part of that statistic.
“They have probably nine guys over 6′8, 6′9... you got two guys flying at him to contest on Ja Morant and then you’ve got the strong guy in the NBA in Steven Adams under there battling against guards, we’re probably going to lose that battle 100 out of 100 times,” James said.
“The last game they played against Cleveland they actually won on a second-chance point by Steven Adams. Because two guys went at Ja Morant’s layup and Steven Adams couldn’t be blocked out - even by Evan Mobley, who’s almost seven foot tall.”
Adams showed off that strength when Sharpe sparked a heated altercation from courtside right after the halftime buzzer.
Sharpe was seen yelling at Grizzlies star Morant before Adams stepped in and exchanged words with the former NFL player. There was several attempts by people to move Adams back but he didn’t budge and was later praised for defending his teammate.
Speaking during the broadcast after halftime, Mark Jackson said the altercation was proof of just how close the Grizzlies as a team are, even if it was “nothing” in his opinion.
“You see Steven Adams comes over to protect his guy along with the supporting cast and then Shannon Sharpe [is] still talking and Tee Morant, Ja Morant’s dad comes over,” Jackson said.
“I had an opportunity to talk to Tee Morant and he said, ‘My blood pressure didn’t go up a bit, nothing but love and respect for Shannon Sharpe. Just a bunch of guys talking a bunch of trash’.
“The good thing you see is everyone is in building still in their seat but we have to be better collectively. I’ll tell you what, it showed you the togetherness of the Memphis Grizzlies. There was a bunch of guys who had nothing to do with it but wasn’t going to sit back and watch. Even though it was nothing, they did nothing together.”
