Marcus Morris Apologizes For Saying Jae Crowder Has 'Female Tendencies' After Knicks-Grizzlies Fight
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jae Crowder and Marcus Morris both play with a lot of passion, so it's not surprising that the pair of former Celtics got into a little bit of a beef Wednesday night. But Morris should probably know better than to say another player has "female tendencies."
Morris' Knicks weren't very pleased with Crowder in the final minute of Memphis' 127-106 win over New York at Madison Square Garden. With his team up by 18 with under a minute left, Crowder stole an errant inbound pass, dribbled back a few feet and jacked up a three for no apparent reason. Knicks guard Elfrid Payton took exception to Crowder's shot, and knocked Crowder into the first row of the stands.
An NBA tussle ensued, meaning there was a whole lot of shoving and bad words uttered, but no punches were thrown. Both Crowder and Morris were ejected for instigating the fight, and Payton was given the boot after being assessed a flagrant 2 foul, which carries an automatic ejection.
But that was not the end of the battle, at least from Morris' standpoint. He took a shot at Crowder after the game, foolishly calling him "very womanlike."
"He plays the game a different way," said Morris. "He's got a lot of female tendencies on the court, flopping and throwing his head back the entire game. It's a man's game and you just get tired of it.
"When you step back and shoot a 3, and like rub it in, he's unprofessional. He's soft. His game is soft. He's very womanlike," Morris added.
Yikes, Marcus. Hit with some backlash, Morris took to Twitter to apologize for his sexist comments.
In a nutshell, the Knicks got embarrassed on their home floor to fall to 13-36 on the season, responded by engaging in some fisticuffs, and then threw out some sexist comments. Fans started chanting for owner James Dolan to sell the team. If that isn't the perfect summation of Knicks basketball, then I don't know what is.
Adding another layer of nonsense to the situation, the Grizzles reportedly didn't have any hot water -- or much water at all -- in their locker room after the game.
Crowder did not talk with reporters after the game, but he did head to Twitter to take a shot at Morris and his 5-for-17 shooting during the Memphis win.
Morris wasn't Crowder's only target late Wednesday night, either. ESPN's Tim Legler called Crowder out, wondering what the forward was thinking for going all-out in the final minute of an 18-point game. Crowder fired back at the analyst, saying that playing hard is the only way he knows how to play.
The Grizzles and Knicks will meet again on April 1 in Memphis. The Knicks should probably expect some cold showers on April Fool's Day.
