Back in October, Matt Barnes and his former teammate turned Knicks coach, Derek Fisher, were involved in a scuffle at Gloria Govan’s home. Since the incident, the NBA handed Barnes a two game suspension as punishment.
Prior to the Grizzlies showdown with the Knicks on Saturday night, Barnes was asked about his confrontation with the Knicks coach. “Every man who looks at the situation knows what’s right and wrong. Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is,” Barnes told reporters. When asked whether he would confront Fisher at the game Barnes replied, “He already took one L. So what’s the point?”
In fact, Barnes said he didn’t even want Fisher to so much as shake his hand at the game. “I just don’t like him. Plain and simple,’’ Barnes told reporters at the morning shootaround. “He knows I don’t like him. Don’t say nothing to me. I don’t plan on saying nothing to him. Don’t try to shake my hand. There’s none of that. There’s nothing there. There never will be. Just stay away from me, basically.”
It got so real that three uniformed Memphis policeman stood watch outside the Knicks locker room 45 minutes before Saturday’s game. During pregame warmups, two policemen stood on the corner of the court by the Knicks basket.
The NBA must’ve taken an issue with Barnes’ pre-game comments because they have fined him $35,000. The announcement was made by Kiki VanDeWeghe, vice-president of basketball operations. “Matt Barnes’ comments condoning violence do not reflect who we are as a league or the character of our players,” said VanDeWeghe. “His words are unacceptable and entirely inconsistent with the core principles of this game and the NBA.”
Do you think Barnes’ punishment is fair?
Source: NY Post | NBA
