Earlier today I posted about a summer basketball league incident involving Matt Barnes on Monday night. While playing in a game in the San Francisco Bay Area Pro-Am Summer Basketball League at Kezar Pavilion, Barnes slapped an assistant coach of the opposing team.
Since my post I’ve learned that Rasheed Malek, the proprietor of the Golden State Warriors-centric site WarriorsWorld.net, was at the game in question and witnessed the altercation between Barnes and SF City assistant coach Rick Lewis.
Malek provided me this first person account of what happened:
I was seated directly behind Matt Barnes’ team’s bench, the “Dream Team” and it was around the mid-way point of the 3rd quarter where Barnes was unhappy with a call one of the referees made and started talking to the referee while the opposing team was shooting free throw’s.
Barnes engaged the referee into conversation directly in front of the opposing team’s Head Coach and Assistant Coach. While talking to the referee, Barnes begin to get heckled by SF City assistant head coach, Rick Lewis. Lewis was saying things like “stop your crying, you’re in the NBA, stop crying” and other remarks which were an attempt to antagonize and get under Barnes skin.
Barnes finally stepped towards Lewis and got in his face and they exchanged pleasantries, Barnes walked away but Lewis was still chirping so Barnes came back and got in his face at which point Barnes gave Lewis a slap on the face.
Now, it was more of a “lovetap” than anything malicious, he didn’t wind up or put force behind it. Soon as it happened, the referee’s came over, Barnes coaching staff ran over and the situation kind of fizzled itself out.
Interestingly enough, Barnes wasn’t ejected and was afforded the opportunity to finish out the game much to the dismay of Lewis and his team.
Notable that there wasn’t a lot of force behind the blow, but it’s still amazing that Barnes could strike an opposing coach and get nothing more than a double technical foul.
Yet another reason why Barnes has no business playing in that league in the first place.
7:54 pm on August 11th, 2010
Jim Gray obviously heard something and misconstrued the report. From his own mouth, he said Corey told him he wanted Tiger on the team. To me that does as an expression of what he desires, not what he will do in selecting team captains. Corey should sue Jim for slander. He has no cred at all.
12:20 am on August 12th, 2010
Cookie, you’re posting on the wrong story. This is about Barnes and Lewis, not Gray and Pavin.
3:16 am on August 12th, 2010
He and Artest can tag team fans and opposing coaches now.
8:29 am on August 12th, 2010
Hahaha… That U….That’s the funniest post I have seen all day.
8:47 am on August 12th, 2010
matt barnes has always had anger problems, thats one reason he has never stuck with a team, im sure if the lakers win or lose this year he’ll be gone, when youre on your seventh team in ten years and your a good player…it must be YOU.