Former NBA player Matt Barnes has been removed from NBC Sports California's broadcast team after Barnes was seen yelling at officials and confronting a student play-by-play announcer at his son's high school basketball game in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reported Barnes, who played 14 years in the NBA, engaged Harvard-Westlake student announcer Jake Lancer during the schoolβs live stream broadcast after one of his sons was whistled for a technical foul.
Video posted to social media shows Barnes putting his right hand on Lancer's shoulder before other adults intervened. Barnes allegedly threatened to slap Lancer.
βHe said, βWhat do you think youβre looking at?ββ Lancer told freelance sports reporter Jack Pollon. βAnd I said, βYouβre screaming youβre a (expletive) to the refs mid game while Iβm trying to announce, donβt touch me,β and then he said, βIβll slap the s--- out of you.ββ
Barnes discussed the incident during an appearance on "The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz."
βI was yelling at the refs, Dan. Iβve yelled at the refs my entire college career, my 15-year NBA career,β Barnes said. βI coach AAU in the summertime, I have high school boys, and I have a 5-year-old coming down the pipeline, so Iβm going to be doing a lot of yelling at the refs. This particular incident β I will say my one mistake was putting my hand on (the student broadcasterβs) shoulder. A lot of people want to say I grabbed this kid or I did this β I literally put my hand on this kidβs shoulder because it was almost like I was talking to my son.
βHe told me to sit my a-- down. I was just like, βWhy do you feel comfortable to be able to tell a grown man to sit his a-- down?β So he and I had a little back and forth, and obviously, admitting my faults to even touch him was wrong of me. But I want to make clear that the narrative of me as some guy that beats up people, I want people to know I didnβt body slam this kid. I didnβt choke slam him. I didnβt do any of the sort. I literally put my hand on his shoulder like I was talking to one of my sons. And, again, for touching him, I was wrong. But I just didnβt like the disrespect that came with the entitlement where they felt like they could say anything to me.β
Lancer denied saying anything disrespectful to Barnes following the incident, tweeting: βI want to make it very clear that I never told him to βshut upβ or anything close to that, he came up to me. All I wanted to do in the moment was get back to announcing the championship game.β
An NBC Sports California spokesperson told The Sacramento Bee Matt Barnes will no longer be appearing on the network.