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:
Morris took to Twitter later in the night to apologize:
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.
