Matt Barnes apologizes to James Harden’s mom
Who will the Los Angeles Clippers forward trash talk next?
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There isn’t anybody Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes will shy away from. Opposing players, fans and random people on Twitter have all been the target of Barnes’ trash talk during his NBA career.
During Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Barnes took it to the next level by making a comment towards James Harden’s mother. Apparently that was one step to far for even Barnes, as he went to go personally apologize to Monja Willis following Houston’s series-evening victory, according to TMZ.
"James Harden‘s mother tells TMZ Sports … Matt Barnes PERSONALLY APOLOGIZED Wednesday night … after the L.A. Clippers star hurled an extremely rude comment to her during last night’s NBA playoff game.Monja Willis wouldn’t tell us exactly what Barnes said to her at the Toyota Center in Houston during Game 2 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals … saying, “We’ll leave that on the court.”What we do know … Matt’s comment really pissed off one of Monja’s other sons — who was sitting next to her during the game and heard it … and confronted Barnes after the final buzzer.Willis tells us … “My older son walked over to him and told him to apologize … and he did."
Trash talk in a heated playoff series is all well and good, but a fellow player’s mother should probably be off-limits. Apologizing in person is a smart move for Barnes, who has tried to control his temper better in recent years. It hasn’t always worked of course, but at least the effort is there.
The good news for Los Angeles is that Barnes has turned in a couple of strong outings during the postseason, including a 20 point outing on 8-11 shooting in a Game 1 victory. Unfortunately, the other side of his game backfired on Wednesday, as he was assessed a technical foul for bumping Harden. The Clippers can’t afford those kinds of things if they are going to advance further in the postseason.
With at least three more games against Houston and a potential series with the archrival Golden State Warriors looming, don’t expect Barnes to dial down the intensity anytime soon.