It’s always a good day when we get to write about the infamous feud between Matt Barnes and Derek Fisher.
For the uninitiated, this clash of former Lakers began last year with a story in the New York Post headlined “Matt Barnes drove 95 miles to ‘beat the s–t out of Derek Fisher.” It turned out that Fisher, then the New York Knicks’ coach, had been romantically involved with Barnes’ ex-wife, a fact Barnes learned of from his six-year-old twins. Barnes was not thrilled about this, and he drove to confront his former teammate.
Barnes, who has played for nine NBA teams in a 14-year NBA career, was eventually suspended for the incident, and the situation seemed to be behind us.
Fast-forward to Sunday night, when Barnes’ Sacramento Kings were playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. With only seconds left in the game and the Kings down six points, Barnes went to inbound the ball and was greeted by thunderous chants of “De-rek Fi-sher clap clap clap-clap-clap.” The chant was so loud it came through clearly on the Knicks’ television broadcast.
#Knicks fans are savages…chant Derek Fisher while Matt Barnes inbounds the ball! pic.twitter.com/OnY24ZNT15
— History of Sports (@BeforeFamePics) December 5, 2016
The chant even got acknowledged on the broadcast, which you don’t usually see when the backstory is somewhat R-rated.
Though Knicks fans were obviously trying to troll Barnes with mention of the failed New York coach, the forward does have one thing in common with those opposing fans: distaste for Derek Fisher.
