High school student says Kings TV’s Matt Barnes threatened him

Matt Barnes found himself embroiled in controversy over the weekend following apparent altercations with referees and a student broadcaster at his son’s high school basketball game in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times reported Barnes engaged student announcer Jake Lancer during the school’s live stream broadcast of a game between Crespi Carmelite and Harvard-Westlake. Video posted to social media showed Barnes approaching Lancer after his son, who plays for Crespi, was whistled for a technical foul.

Footage showed Barnes putting his right hand on Lancer’s shoulder during what looked like a heated exchange before other adults intervened. Barnes, a former Del Campo High School star who played for the Sacramento Kings and now works for the

Kings TV broadcast on NBC Sports California, allegedly threatened to slap Lancer.

“He said, ‘What do you think you’re looking at?’” Lancer told freelance sports reporter Jack Pollon. “And I said, ‘You’re screaming you’re a (term for a female private part)’ to the refs mid game while I’m trying to announce, don’t touch me’ and then he said, ‘I’ll slap the s--- out of you.’”

The altercation occurred two days before Barnes was inducted into the Sacramento Sports

Hall of Fame at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln. Barnes starred at Del Campo and UCLA before spending 14 seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, Kings, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.