Many people know NBA champion Matt Barnes as a tenacious defensive basketball star who played aggressively on the court and was an all-around bad boy off the court. Those bad boy ways did not disappear after his retirement in 2017.
Every now and again, when Barnes’ temper explodes, someone often catches the former All-America player’s wrath.
Just ask young Jake Lancer, a student announcer who found himself on the wrong side of Barnes’ favor. Lancer was working the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines versus Crespi Carmelite Celts high school basketball game in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb. 2.
The game’s stakes were high, as it was the Mission League championship, and seemed like a pre-NCAA game.
Carter Barnes, the son of Barnes, is a player for Crespi, under the coaching of former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, who is now married to the teen’s mother, Gloria Govan. In the same game, Christian Horry, son of seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, showcased his skills for Harvard-Westlake, sinking three three-pointers in the opening quarter. Adding to the intrigue, one of the officials overseeing the game was the son of former NBA official Bill Spooner.
Then, like at an NBA game, there was the trash-talking from the sideline from one celebrity fan.
It started when Carter Barnes was hit with a technical foul in the third quarter and his dad went off on the referees. That’s when Lancer started weighing in on how he thought Barnes was overdoing it.
HW student broadcaster Jake Lancer
— Jack Pollon (@pollonpreps) February 3, 2024
This guy was on the court mid-game multiple times screaming ridiculous stuff at the refs and everyone, including myself was looking at him, we made eye contact and that was enough for him to come up to me and grip my shoulder with his hand.
After commenting on Barnes fussing at referees for fouling his son during the game, the 6-foot-7 former Los Angeles Lakers player All-Star came and shook him up a little.
Lancer is seen looking up at Barnes as if he saw a ghost.
HW student broadcaster Jake Lancer, part two
— Jack Pollon (@pollonpreps) February 3, 2024
He said “what do you think your looking at” and I said “you’re screaming ‘you’re a (term for a female private part)’ to the refs mid game while im trying to announce, don’t touch me” and then he said “I’ll slap the shit out of you”
The athlete then placed his hand on the white teen’s shoulder and allegedly asked “What do you think you’re looking at?” according to sportswriter Jack Pollen, who spoke to Lancer after the altercation.
Pollen, in a post on X, says the high school senior says he replied to the towering adult, “You’re screaming ‘you’re a (term for a female private part)’ to the refs mid-game while I’m trying to announce.”
He then told Barnes, “Don’t touch me.”
Video of the brief altercation was soundtracked by the game DJ playing Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones.”
The “All The Smoke” podcast host responded to the kid telling him not to touch him, elevating the altercation by saying, “I’ll slap the s–t out of you.”
While Barnes is rumored to have thought the boy had told him to “Shut up,” which prompted him to go over to him and have a little chat, audio of Lancer’s call indicates the boy was describing Barnes’ actions.
“Matt Barnes now is onto the floor — or not on the floor, [but] he’s right on the side of the floor,” just screaming, ‘You’re an expletive,’” a Mediaite transcription of the call shows. “I mean, that’s ridiculous. He’s out onto the floor right now and there’s no one doing anything about it. I get he’s an NBA player, but I mean, I don’t think that’s — yeah.”
Parents in the bleachers were outraged and could be heard on the video chanting for him to be removed. At one point security approached Barnes and asked him to leave, but it seems that he made amends and was permitted to stay.
One mom took to social media and tried to put Barnes on blast, saying, “What you all are failing to report is Barnes going up to our broadcaster, a high school senior, grabbing his shoulder while questioning what he’s saying on the livestream after he calls the ref a B**** multiple times because his son got a tech.”
She did not expect Barnes to hop in the comments and respond to her.
“Shut ur a— up,” he wrote. “I was talking to the ref not you or that kid that decided to say some slick sh-t. Don’t let that privileged HW [Harvard-Westlake] sh-t go to your head. Idgaf who your son is.”
Another sportswriter, Jason Anderson posted an article about it with the headline, “High school student broadcaster says Matt Barnes threatened to ‘slap the s—’ out of him.”
Barnes saw this tweeted out and responded, saying it was one-sided.
“You reach out after the fact. F—k you!” he wrote.
“One of my colleagues has been trying to reach you the past few days and I’ve reached out as well. Again, we will tell your side of the story if you tell us your side of the story,” Anderson said in a rebuttal.
“YOU, the person who wrote the story reached out this morning & I answered don’t play w me! The damage is done, the headline is out there,” he wrote. “If you really cared about the whole story you would have called me like you did this morning. My HOMETOWN owes at least that much cont.”
The Los Angeles Times also reported the incident and said Barnes placed his hands on the teen’s shoulders “to get his attention.”
Harvard-Westlake won the game 72-54.
While Barnes’ son did not win, he did take to the X platform to congratulate the team— never addressing the incident on his platform.
Y’all was picked to finish 8th in the Mission League. Finished 2nd w a majority of fresh & soph. Future is bright for @CrespiHoops congrats fellas https://t.co/OMNQ2NaAc6
— Matt Barnes (@Matt_Barnes22) February 3, 2024
