It’s 2020, yet here we are having to call out an athlete for describing an opponent as having “female tendencies” and “very woman-like.”
That athlete is New York Knicks forward Marcus Morris, who was asked about Memphis Grizzlies forward Jae Crowder. The veteran was on the end of a hard foul near the end of the Grizzlies’ blowout win over the Knicks Wednesday night that led to a scuffle.
“He play the game in a different way. 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,” he said, later adding, “It’s soft. His game is soft. He’s soft. It’s how he carries himself. It’s just very woman-like.”
Really. That’s what he said:
"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
Morris took to Twitter later in the night to apologize:
I apologize for using the term “female tendencies” 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 with my comments.
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 30, 2020
For my comments.
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 30, 2020
Mom dukes text me told me she love me and she raised a great man.
— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 30, 2020
It goes without saying — or at least I thought it did — but I’m saying it anyway: there’s no place for that sexism anywhere. Insinuating that “female tendencies” are weak and playing like a woman is “soft” is as misogynistic as it gets. While we’re at it, get “soft” out of here, too, one of those phrases that’s so blatantly a part of toxic masculinity. Morris should be embarrassed that he even went there in the first place.
[jwplayer JgW4p3Ph-q2aasYxh]