Matt Barnes of the Memphis Grizzlies was given a two game suspension following a heated argument with coach Derek Fisher of the New York Knicks. This was announced by the NBA on Dec. 28, Monday.
The power forward was not able to play on Dec. 29, Tuesday when the Grizzlies played against the Miami Heat. The team won't be playing either on Jan. 2, 2016, Saturday in their match against the Utah Jazz, ESPN reported.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Barnes and Fisher have both been involved in a physical fight that occurred in Los Angeles on Oct. 3. The two were said to be in a party which was held at the residence of Barnes' former wife.
In an interview with ESPN, Barnes claimed that he decided to go to the house of Gloria Govan just to see his twin sons. Barnes said that he had to check on his 6-year-old boys after getting some text messages and through Facetime, where he felt that something was wrong. He recalled one of his twins saying that Fisher was there at the moment.
He said since he was only 15 minutes away from his twins at Redondo Beach, California, Barnes decided to drive home where an argument with Govan and Fisher resulted in a physical fight. The police had been called, but there were no reports of charges filed. According to the NBA, they have already done their investigation and there will be no sanction to be given for Fisher.
Still, Barnes has to miss a couple of games for taking part in a physical fight with Fisher. On the other hand, Fisher said he has already talked about the said incident to Phil Jackson, the president of the New York Knicks.
Barnes has played alongside Fisher for two years,from 2010 to 2012 when they were still in the Los Angeles Lakers. Barnes is currently averaging 5.0 rebounds at 25.6 mins and 8.6 points in a game, ESPN wrote.