Barnes denies making reported offensive comment to Harden's mother
It's not exactly a secret that Matt Barnes has exactly zero chill when it comes to the league, opponents and discipline in general.
That apparently extends to the families of opponents, as Barnes made waves following Wednesday's Game 2 against the Houston Rockets for having allegedly trash-talked the mother of James Harden. This all seemed buried on Wednesday, as Harden's mother publicly accepted the apology Barnes is said to have given her following the game, but specifics have since emerged that again paint Barnes in a terrible light.
According to multiple reports, the Los Angeles Clippers agitator didn't just trash-talk Harden's mother about the game or about Harden's performance, but he got downright insolent.
Text from someone who absolutely would know: Matt Barnes said "Suck my dick, bitch" to James Harden's mother. My lord.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) May 7, 2015
Barnes denied the specific comment being reported on Friday but admitted there was an interaction, and that he apologized once he was made aware it was Harden's mother.
Matt Barnes said he didn't know it was James Harden's mother when he responded to her the other night. Said "we've made our peace"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 8, 2015
Matt Barnes said he didn't say what's being reported. "Untrue crazy," he said. "I spoke to her at halftime and spoke to her after the game."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 8, 2015
Monja Willis, Harden's mother, previously told TMZ that her older son suggested Barnes apologize and he did so, because yeah, what else are you going to do at that point?
"What he told me was that he would never want to disrespect anyone's mother because his mother passed from cancer," Willis said. "And that he was sorry. I accept his apology."
NBA players generally don't mess around when it comes to mothers and such a crass remark seems to beg for retaliation in Game 3 on Friday. Barnes may want to go beyond an apology and send some flowers for Mother's Day or something.
Harden got a measure of revenge in Game 2, going off for 16 points in the fourth quarter en route to a victory, and it will be interesting to see if he comes out in full-on attack mode with Barnes as his primary defender Friday.
James Harden on Matt Barnes trash talking to his mom: "Any situation where you're talking about somebody else's parents is disrespectful."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) May 8, 2015
The Rockets have also reportedly made the NBA aware of Barnes' inappropriate interaction with fans in both Games 1 and 2.
-With h/t to Deadspin