LOS ANGELES CA- During an emergency press conference this morning, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that league stars Marcus and Markieff Morris are not blood relatives. A DNA test was performed as part of an investigation conducted after Markieff’s arrest at the Philadelphia International Airport last May. The news comes as a shock not just to the millions of fans who believed the pair to be twin brothers, but to the men themselves. In a series of twitter posts Marcus expressed his shock at the fact that the man he believed to be his brother was just a stranger. “It almost seems impossible that we can look identical, be raised by the same parents, both play in the NBA, and share a bank account but not be brothers. I guess God works in mysterious ways wrote the Clippers forward. Markieff could not be reached for comment.
The seemingly impossible series of coincidences appear to be related to the failed NBA marketing campaign under previous commissioner David Stern. Stern had aimed to emphasize the league’s commitment to brotherhood through a series of branding and community service projects called NBA Fraternity. The program was disbanded following the 1990-1991 season but not before the league rounded up hundreds of similar looking babies who were then raised by league employees. The goal was to ensure future rosters would be filled with siblings as a tie in the NBA Fraternity branding.
Both Marcus and Markieff have been suspended three games and fined $15,000 dollars each. Brook and Robin Lopez will be held out indefinitely pending their own test results.