Matt Barnes, actually one of my favorite Clippers interviews off the court, can talk a lot on it. His game is both chippy and chirpy — he is emotional and wants to get under the opponent’s skin — and the language he uses is appropriate for Netflix streaming but not an NBC broadcast show. (Which is fine, it’s a grown man’s game.)
Sunday in Phoenix that went a little too far as he used “inappropriate language toward a fan” and the league has fined him $25,000 for it.
On the play in question Barnes got the ball on the left wing and tried to drive the lane past Goran Dragic, got his elbows up as he made a move and was called for an offensive foul that he did not like. The teams moved to the other end of the floor, Barnes was still hot, and before the play started he said something to a fan that earned him an instant technical (the incident wasn’t really caught on camera).
Barnes was defiant when the fine was announced and said he was directing the words at the Suns’ owner, who started it.