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Matt Barnes wasn’t exactly known for being a calm, cool, and collected individual during his time in the NBA, and he’s now found himself out of a job after being accused of losing his cool while attending a high school basketball game.
While it’s somewhat easy to understand why Matt Barnes felt the urge to fight Derek Fisher after discovering his former teammate was dating his wife, that’s far from the only time he was unable to keep his temper under control; after all, we’re talking about a guy who racked up more than $600,000 in fines when he was playing in the NBA.
Fisher and Barnes were eventually able to put that beef behind them, and in a somewhat wild twist, the man who married the latter’s ex-wife is now coaching both of his twin sons at Crespi Carmelite High School in Los Angeles.
Last month, Barnes headed to Harvard-Westlake to watch Fisher’s squad and was unable to resist the urge to go Full Basketball Dad after taking issue with a referee who called a technical on one of his sons.
It would be one thing if he’d simply laid into the officials, but things took a turn when he approached a Harvard-Westlake student who was working the school’s online broadcast to kick off an exchange where he allegedly threatened to slap the high schooler after placing his hand on his shoulder.
Barnes eventually shared his side of the story while defending himself during a conversation with Dan Le Batard where he acknowledged he shouldn’t have touched the student but denied he crossed the line.
However, according to The Sacramento Bee, it appears the folks at NBC Sports California think he went too far, as the network announced Barnes is no longer employed as an analyst for the Kings in the wake of an incident—a job he’d held since 2021.
It’s safe to assume Barnes will be just fine despite losing the gig, as he still co-hosts All The Smoke with Stephen Jackson and made more than $35 million in contract earnings during his time in the league.