The so-called “female tendencies” of a player on the Memphis Grizzlies had the New York Knicks acting like macho men at the end of a game they lost by more than 20 points at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
With New York trailing by 18 points with under a minute to play, Memphis forward Jae Crowder picked up an easy steal under the Knicks’ basket and casually shot a 3-pointer from the corner, which missed. Upset that Crowder was still shooting from deep with such a sizable lead, Elfrid Payton ran up to Crowder and shoved him into the first row of the courtside seats.
After that, tempers flared and benches cleared but there weren’t any real punches thrown and no one was injured.
The Knicks and Grizzlies got into it 😳 pic.twitter.com/ysQO5S7aWC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2020
To add insult to the lack of injuries, fans at MSG began cheating for New York owner James Dolan, an avid bluesman with killer axe skills, to sell the team.
A loud "Sell the team" chant rises up at MSG with Knicks down 18 and a fracas on the court just broken up. MSG starts piping in loud music to break it up. Things are not going well in New York tonight. pic.twitter.com/X9zM0VQ3Vg
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 30, 2020
Things didn’t get any better for the Knicks from a PR standpoint after the game as New York forward Marcus Morris Sr. blamed the fracas on the court on what he described as Crowder’s “female tendencies.
“I think the dude (Crowder) plays the game a different way. He’s got a lot of female tendencies on the court,” Morris said. “Flapping and throwing his head back the entire game. This is a man’s game and you just get tired of it.”
"He's got a lot of female tendencies on the court, flopping and throwing his head back…he's soft, very woman-like"
– Marcus Morris on Jae Crowder pic.twitter.com/MxtFnKbu3M
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 30, 2020
Shortly afterward, Morris walked back his comments.
“I apologize for using the term ‘female tendencies,’” Morris posted on Twitter. “I have the upmost respect for women and everything they mean to us. It was a Heat of the moment response and I never intended for any Women to feel as though in anyway I’m disrespecting them. Again I apologize for my comments.”
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