Source: Cassy Athena / Getty
The former
NBA player has twin boys, Carter and Isaiah, and went full sports dad mode at a recent basketball game, where the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines took on his Crespi Carmelite Celts.
He was upset at a call one of the referees made and reportedly constantly got out of his seat and yelled at the officials. He was so fired up that others in the audience stared at him, including Jake Lancer, one of the student broadcasters covering the Championship game.
Freelance journalist Jack Pollon spoke to Jake Lancer about how the situation got more heated when Barnes approached him.
“This guy was on the court mid-game multiple times screaming ridiculous stuff at the refs and everyone, including myself was looking at him, we made eye contact and that was enough for him to come up to me and grip my shoulder with his hand,” Lancer told Pollon.
Video of the alleged incident shows Barnes jawing off at the refs courtside midgame.
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The edited clip then shows him with his hand on Lancer’s shoulder and talking to him. Lancer later explained how the confrontational encounter went down.
“He said ‘what do you think you’re looking at’ and I said “you’re screaming ‘you’re a (term for a female private part)’ to the refs mid game while I’m trying to announce, don’t touch me” and then he said ‘I’ll slap the shit out of you,’” he added.
The
Los Angeles Times even mentioned the Barnes incident in its coverage, adding that it delayed the game.
“It got even weirder in the third quarter when the son of former NBA player Matt Barnes, Carter Barnes, picked up a technical foul. Then his dad started engaging student announcer Jake Lancer during the school’s livestream broadcast by putting his hands on Lancer to get his attention, briefly delaying the game,” the
Times reported.
Barnes spoke about the encounter on X, claiming that his reaction was prompted by Lancer’s initial comments.
“Shut ur ass up. I was talking to the ref not you or that kid that decided to say some slick shit. Don’t let that privileged HW shit go to your head. Idgaf who your son is,” he responded to one of the mother’s of the opposing team’s players.
The last time Barnes was this distraught over his sons was back in 2015 when one son called to tell him that his former teammate Derek Fisher was dating their mother, his ex-wife Gloria Govan. Barnes then hopped in the car and drove to the home to confront Fisher, and the
story got so out of hand that fans believed that he drove 30 hours to throw hands.
Things come full circle because Fisher is now married to Govan and is the head coach of the high school basketball team his kids play for.
See how social media is reacting to Barnes’ actions below.