Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes reportedly attacked Knicks coach Derek Fisher for dating his estranged wife, Gloria Govan.
New details are emerging, and they cast Barnes in an even worse light.
Ian Mohr of the New York Post:Sources told The Post that Barnes became incensed when his 6-year-old twin sons, Carter and Isaiah, called to tell him that Fisher was at the house.
Following the dust-up, Barnes, 35, texted a pal that he had not only assaulted Fisher, 41, but also took revenge on Govan, one source said.
“I kicked his ass from the back yard to the front room, and spit in her face,” the text read, according to the source.
If this becomes a criminal case, Barnes’ text could incriminate him.
In the court of public opinion, the presence of Barnes’ children and his spitting in his wife’s face make this even more disturbing.
Unfortunately, not everyone views it that way. Too many are laughing off the incident.
Albert Burneko of Deadspin had the best take I’ve seen on this situation:
When an accused domestic abuser shows up uninvited at a family party to—as a source put it to the New York Post—“beat the shit” out of someone for the offense of dating his ex, that is not a wacky character up to zany shenanigans. It is not reality TV melodrama or a cartoon or celebrities being silly. It is the behavior of a dangerous misogynist lunatic. It is an act of violent aggression. It is a man forcefully asserting personal property rights over a woman’s home, body, and life. It differs from what Ray Rice did in that elevator by degree, not by kind, and not by all that much.