THURSDAY, 2:23pm: Barnes drove to his ex-wife’s home when one of his children Facetimed him and expressed concern, as Barnes told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, who shares Barnes’ details of the leadup to the incident. Barnes didn’t address the reported altercation with Fisher, though he did address his relationship with his former Lakers teammate.
“We were close. We were friends. Some things have happened to change that. It is what it is,” Barnes said to Shelburne about Fisher.
4:57pm: During his pregame press conference today, Fisher was asked if there would be any legal ramifications from the incident, to which he replied, “We’ll see,” Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets.
WEDNESDAY, 4:24pm: Knicks coach Derek Fisher and Grizzlies small forward Matt Barnes had a physical confrontation Saturday in Los Angeles and Fisher is considering legal action for the incident, but has not yet filed any charges, Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports report. Ian Mohr of The New York Post first reported the altercation. The Knicks, Grizzlies and NBA security have been made aware of the incident and are expected to soon start working together on a probe of the events, according to Charania and Wojnarowski. “We are aware and currently gathering information regarding today’s report involving Matt Barnes,” the Grizzlies said in a press release.
The conflict stemmed from Fisher’s romantic involvement with the estranged wife of Barnes, a former teammate, and when Barnes found out, he allegedly attacked Fisher, sources informed Mohr. Fisher and Barnes’ ex, Gloria Govan, have been dating for “a few months,” a source told the Post scribe, a relationship that began after Fisher filed to divorce his wife of 10 years, Candace, this past March.
“Derek was in Gloria’s back yard with about 10 people having a bonfire on Saturday,” said Mohr’s source. “Derek’s separated from his wife and there’s a relationship with [Gloria]. Barnes was in Santa Barbara [at Memphis Grizzlies training camp] and heard that Fisher was in his house. He went crazy. He got in his car and went to the house and went after Fisher.” A source close to Fisher who spoke with Mohr confirmed the fight, but had conflicting information regarding whether or not Fisher would pursue legal action, saying, “Matt came after Derek but he only had a few scratches … Derek’s not going to press charges, he’s going to let it go.”
A significant part of the NBA’s security department is overseas working closely on the league’s preseason games in Europe, sources told Charania and Wojnarowski. This could certainly delay any investigation from being completed fully, as well as any subsequent disciplinary action, if warranted, though that is merely my speculation.
Thought he was dating Rihanna? Lol. Dummy.