WHY I KNICKED HIS ASS!
NBAer feared for kids with ‘Mommy’s friend’
NBA bad boy Matt Barnes insisted Thursday that it was concern for his kids — and not jealousy — that drove him to race to his former marital home where he got into a brawl with Knicks coach Derek Fisher.
Barnes told ESPN radio he was at his home in Marina del Rey, Calif., at around 10 p.m. Saturday when he got a text from son Carter, one of his twin 6yearold boys with ex“Basketball Wives” star Gloria Govan.
During a subsequent FaceTime chat, the hotheaded 6foot7 Barnes said, “I knew something was wrong.”
“I was like, ‘ What’s wrong, Carter?’ and he shook his head ‘no.’ Then he lays his head down on the couch, puts a pillow in front of his face and says, ‘Mommy’s friend Derek is here,’ ” Barnes recalled.
Barnes, 35, said he also spoke with son Isaiah and was worried the boys were “uncomfortable” having another man — in this case, his former Lakers teammate and pal Fisher — in their Redondo Beach house, so he went over.
Barnes, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, admitted things “escalated” following his arrival, but he refused to elaborate, citing “potential litigation,” according to ESPN.
Sources have told The Post, which first revealed the lovetriangle dustup, that Barnes “went crazy” and attacked Fisher, 41, who was among about 10 people he found gathered around a backyard bonfire.
Govan and several guests tried to break up the fight, but Barnes backed off only when one of his sons begged him to stop, TMZ reported.
In a text to a pal afterward, Barnes allegedly claimed he targeted both Fisher and Govan.
“I kicked his ass from the back yard to the front room, and spit in her face,” the text said, according to a source.
But a source close to Barnes told The Post Thursday that he blew his stack because he discovered Fisher had been seeing Govan — whom Barnes filed to divorce in January — for longer than he initially thought.
Barnes has a history of bad behavior that includes an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence against Govan — a charge later dropped — and three foulmouthed outbursts on the court last season that cost him $100,000 in fines.
Barnes told reporters at a Grizzlies practice Thursday morning that he had no regrets — “none at all” — regarding the bout with Fisher, whom he described as a onetime pal.
“We were friends. We were good friends at one point,” he said.
He also insisted to ESPN it took him only 15 minutes to get to Govan’s house.
“I can’t believe people think I was some maniac driving 95 miles and listening to Tupac to go beat somebody up,” he said.
But sources have told The Post — which featured the story on the front page Thursday (inset) — that Barnes actually drove from the Grizzlies’ training camp in Santa Barbara to confront Fisher.
That trip, about 100 miles, could have taken around 90 minutes. Police say the clash at Govan’s house took place at 11:45 p.m. Saturday — 105 minutes after Barnes claims he got the text from his son.
Fisher, who filed for divorce from his wife, Candace, in March, told reporters he was “basically done kind of, I guess, talking about the situation directly.”