During his time in the NBA, Matt Barnes was known as a player with a hot-headed attitude who would never hold back from saying what he felt.
This got him into a lot of trouble often.
But there was one instance that was far worse than the others: when he got into a verbal altercation with the mother of James Harden.
“She was talking reckless to me… I mouthed something that I probably shouldn’t of mouthed if I would’ve known it was [James Harden’s] Mom,” Barnes said on FanDuel TV on Wednesday.
“She was talking reckless to me… I mouthed something that I probably shouldn’t of mouthed if I would’ve known it was [James Harden's] Mom."
Matt Barnes reflects on the time he talked back to Harden's mother in the playoffs 😅
(via @FanDuelTV)pic.twitter.com/A8i1UAaUOY
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 7, 2023
Chandler Parsons, Barnes’ former teammate who sat next to him on the panel, confirmed that Barnes said some very inappropriate and harsh things to Harden’s mom.
This incident cost Barnes a lot of money.
He said he was fined upwards of $50,000 to $65,000 because of the spat.
He did eventually make nice and even bought Harden’s mom flowers for Mother’s Day.
Barnes was one of the most confrontational players in the league for some time.
He repeatedly got into it with athletes, coaches, refs, and even fans.
He seems much calmer now but he makes no apologies for how he acted on the court during his NBA tenure.
Still, he regrets arguing with Harden’s mom and wishes he could take it back.
The heat of the game and the trash talk she was hurling at him got under his skin.
Thankfully, both sides of the argument have seemingly put it behind them.
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