Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris can probably count on one hand each the number of times they both really wanted the same thing and their brother stood as the impediment to getting it. Usually, those matters are settled by plopping on the couch, pulling out the joysticks and going at it on either Madden NFL or NBA 2K.

View photos The Morris twins are now competing for a playoff berth. (Getty Images) More

They've used video games to determine who would buy their mother a car or nice piece of jewelry, and Markieff claimed the biggest prize three years ago when Marcus got traded to Phoenix and Markieff claimed the master bedroom at the home they shared after a best-of-seven Madden football battle.

"My room was still nice," Marcus Morris told The Vertical with a grin, "just not as nice as his."

Marcus isn't ashamed to admit that his older brother by seven minutes usually winds up the victor in these duels, but Markieff would never be one to rub it in anyway. The Morris twins don't engage in much trash talk (aside from in video games); don't disagree on much outside of football (Markieff is a Dallas Cowboys fan, Marcus pulls for their native Philadelphia Eagles); and growing up, the duo preferred playing two-on-one against an older brother in the schoolyard rather than compete against each other. Markieff estimates they probably haven't exchanged blows or scrapped since they were about 9 because "it was silly to be fighting your own brother."

"Growing up in north Philly, we always had to stand up for each other, so it wasn't a competition thing," Marcus Morris told The Vertical. "It's, 'Let's do it together, let's be great together and let's protect each other.' "

That sentiment remains the same for a duo that has matching tattoos around the collarbone and wears medallions and sometimes sweatshirts with the initials, FOE, as in, "Family Over Everything." But after some unexpected upheaval in which the Phoenix Suns sent Marcus to the Detroit Pistons last July and Markieff to the Washington Wizards last month, the brothers were placed on opposite sides in pursuit of the same goal of reaching the playoffs. Marcus' Pistons are a half-game behind the Chicago Bulls for eighth and Markieff's Wizards are one behind Detroit.

"Best team win. Of course, I would want to see myself [in the playoffs], but I'd rather see him in than Chicago," Markieff Morris told The Vertical. "I'm definitely rooting for my brother and the Pistons, but if we can get it in, I would rather us get in than them, for sure. Both of us want to go to the playoffs for our first time. Neither one of us has ever been. But if it's one, the other one [will] support."

The bond shared by the Morris twins is obvious to anyone who recognizes the deliberate steps the two have taken to make sure they are almost indistinguishable to a casual observer – from the identical body art to the unkempt beards. But when the Suns traded Marcus to the Pistons last July – only 10 months after the brothers gave what amounted to an extreme family discount in order to play together – the brothers were upset about being separated. But mostly, they felt betrayed.

Phoenix gave the Morris brothers $52 million to split between them in September 2014 – Markieff took $32 million over four years and Marcus accepted $20 million over four years. Once his brother, best friend and housemate were gone, however, Markieff wanted out as well, because he thought the tightest of tight-knit relationships was used to coerce him into signing the contract extension well below market value rather than seeking considerably more as a restricted free agent.

Story continues