The Sacramento Kings have pulled former NBA champion Matt Barnes from their broadcasting team just weeks after he was seen yelling at officials and confronting a student play-by-play announcer at his sons’ high school basketball game in Los Angeles.
Barnes was in his third season as a studio analyst with the Kings broadcast team.
Barnes attended a game between Crespi Carmelite and Harvard-Westlake when he allegedly engaged Harvard-Westlake student announcer Jake Lancer during the school’s live stream broadcast after one of his sons was whistled for a technical foul. Video posted to social media showed Barnes putting his right hand on Lancer’s shoulder before other adults intervened. Barnes allegedly threatened to slap Lancer.
Caught in 4K buddy pic.twitter.com/MLft16ocg9
— Official Kevin “NY Kn(ox)” the Second Fan Club (@KevinKnoxII) February 4, 2024
The now ex-Kings broadcaster later told Dan Le Batard, “I was yelling at the refs, Dan. I’ve yelled at the refs my entire college career, my 15-year NBA career,” Barnes said. “I coach AAU in the summertime, I have high school boys, and I have a 5-year-old coming down the pipeline, so I’m going to be doing a lot of yelling at the refs. This particular incident — I will say my one mistake was putting my hand on his shoulder. A lot of people want to say I grabbed this kid or I did this — I literally put my hand on this kid’s shoulder because it was almost like I was talking to my son.”
Regardless of Barnes' explanation, the Kings decided that they had seen enough.
Barnes played at Del Campo High School and UCLA before he was chosen with the 46th overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft. He played for nine teams during his career, including the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Kings. He retired after winning an NBA championship with Golden State in 2017.
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