Source: David Livingston / Getty
Things escalated quickly between NBA players, Matt Barnes and James Harden during Game 2 of the Clippers-Rockets game Wednesday night in which the Rockets won 115-109. That’s when Harden’s mother became the victim of a Barnes verbal assault.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers stated that he was not informed of Barnes’ comments until Thursday morning and discussed his personal rules for players regarding trash-talking during a conference call with reporters. “I don’t think you should, unless you’re doing it for fun, to have fun,” Rivers expounds his opinion on the topic. “I found the fans in Houston to be pretty much fun. They’re loud, they get on you, but in a nice way. So I think as long as you keep it that way, it’s good.”
Following the incident, Barnes quickly apologized to Mama Harden, as directed by Harden’s older brother, for spewing out such harsh words while in the heat of the moment. Harden’s mother, Monja Willis, says that her older son, who was sitting beside her when the situation occurred, “walked over to him and told him to apologize … and he did.”
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale had a very different opinion about what transpired on the court. McHale says that Barnes crossed the line simply because “you don’t say anything to anybody’s mom.” McHale, a well-known trash talker, reminisced back when he and Lakers legend, Magic Johnson, use to go at it, in the 1980s, when he played for the Celtics. “If you have something to say, say it to the guy you’re playing against.”
Mama Harden, states that she forgives the Clippers forward for the inappropriate comment during her son’s victory and explains to TMZ that “what he told me was that he would never want to disrespect anyone’s mother because his mother passed from cancer … and that he was sorry.”
Matt Barnes has been involved with a number of reckless acts as he recently spat on the court during the first-round playoff series along with cursing out a fan resulting in a $25,000 fine, back in January. Barnes later revealed that he was instead swearing at the owner of the Suns. Barnes’ intentions may have been to respond to what he believed to be a female voice in the crowd versus someone’s mother. Despite his apology, the league may decide to penalize him with a similar consequence as they’ve done before.
What do you think about what Matt Barnes did? How do you think this situation should be resolved?
(Follow us on Instagram @HipHopNC to see what Matt Barnes allegedly said to his all-star opponent’s mother)
