Former NBA player Matt Barnes is known as one of the toughest players in the history of the game. Barnes doesn't back down to a challenge, whether it's in the court or not. Recently, he made waves on social media by putting his hands on a student announcer. It wasn't a good look.
Barnes loves to show support to his twin sons, Carter and Isaiah. The former LA Lakers forward watches their games and coaches them from the bleachers occasionally. They're currently playing for Crespi Carmelite High School and are some of the most talented players on the team, who are coached by Derek Fisher, ironically.
During their game against Harvard-Westlake Wolverines over the weekend, Barnes had his hand on the shoulder of a student play-by-play voice. It was during the third period and Carter got issued a technical foul. Throughout all this, the former NBA forward put his hand on Jake Lancer, the student announcer, which delayed the game.
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This delayed the game and caused fans to get confused as to what happened between the former pro athlete and the student. Many claimed that the announcer told Barnes to "shut up," but Lancer shared that he didn't instigate anything.
"We made eye contact and that was enough for him to come up to me and grip my shoulder with his hand," Lancer said.
With that, fans shared their thoughts on the events that transpired during the incident.
Many are still confused about what transpired during the game.
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What happened with Matt Barnes and the student announcer?
The moment between Matt Barnes and Lancer was intense.
In a clip that was taken from the broadcast, the student shared during the game that the former NBA player was screaming profanities at the referees. According to him, it was difficult for him to focus on the game as Barnes was berating the referees, which distracted him.
After the game, the student shared the exchange between him and Barnes.
"This guy was on the court mid-game multiple times screaming ridiculous stuff at the refs and everyone, including myself was looking at him," Lancer said.
"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 s*** out of you.'"
On social media, Barnes defended himself after the moment between him and Lancer went viral.
"Shut ur a** up. I was talking to the ref not you or that kid that decided to say some slick s**t. Don’t let that privileged HW s**t go to your head. Idgaf who your son is," Barnes posted on X.
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