Former UCLA and NBA forward Matt Barnes was reportedly fired as a Sacramento Kings studio analyst by NBC Sports California nearly three weeks after he yelled at officials and confronted a student announcer at Harvard-Westlake School of Studio City during a high school basketball game in Encino Crespi.
Barnes, 43, became enraged after a referee called a technical foul on one of his twin sons, who plays for Crespi. A video posted on social media shows Barnes putting his right hand on the shoulder of Harvard-Westlake student Jake Lancer, who was broadcasting the game. Barnes and Lancer exchanged words before the adults intervened.
The Sacramento Bee reported that Barnes will no longer work as an analyst for the Kings, a position he held for three years. Barnes played 14 seasons in the NBA, including two with the Lakers, four with the Clippers and nearly two with the Kings. He played at UCLA from 1998 to 2002.
Barnes addressed the confrontation during a Feb. 13 appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.”
“I was yelling at the referees, Dan,” he told Le Batard. “I've yelled at referees my entire college career, my 15-year NBA career. I coach AAU in the summer, I have high school kids and I have a 5 year old on the way, so I'm going to yell at the referees a lot.
“In this particular incident, I will say that my only mistake was putting my hand [Lancer’s] shoulder. A lot of people want to say I grabbed this kid or I did this; I literally put my hand on this kid's shoulder because it was almost like I was talking to my son. . . . So he and I had a little bit of back and forth, and obviously… . . for touching it, I was wrong. But I just didn't like the lack of respect that came with the fact that they felt like they could tell me anything.”
Lancer addressed the incident on social media, tweeting: “Last comment on the situation last night: I want to make it very clear that I never told you [Barnes] To “shut up” or something similar, he approached me. “All I wanted to do right now was announce the championship game again.”
Last comment on last night's situation: I want to make it very clear that I never told him to “shut up” or anything like that, he approached me. All he wanted to do at that moment was re-announce the championship game.
-Jake Lancer (@jakelancer_) February 3, 2024
Harvard-Westlake endorsed Lancer in a tweet from the school's account: “Harvard-Westlake is proud of Jake Lancer and the poise he showed in [Feb. 2] under unusual circumstances. Jake’s calm demeanor and professional approach are unparalleled in high school journalism and we are honored to have him be our lead commentator on HWTV.”
Barnes, who attended Del Campo High near Sacramento, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in 2010, although the alleged victim, Barnes' fiancée Gloria Govan, said: “Any accusation of domestic violence is false. “My fiancé, Matt Barnes, has never physically abused me or my family.”
Govan is the mother of twins Carter and Isaiah Barnes, whose coach at Crespi is former Lakers guard Derek Fisher. In 2015, Barnes and Fisher were involved in a physical altercation when Barnes confronted Fisher about his relationship with Govan, who was separated from Barnes. Fisher and Barnes have since resolved their differences.
