Things became heated between Matt Barnes and James Harden in the Houston Rockets’ 115-109 win in Game 2 Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, and Harden’s mother became the victim of a Barnes verbal assault.
Realizing the error of his ways, Barnes apologized to Mama Harden.
James Harden's Mom — Matt Barnes Apologized To Me … For In-Game Insult http://t.co/rHUjpBwjcY
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) May 7, 2015
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale says that the fiery Clippers forward crossed the line.
Per the Houston Chronicle:
“I heard about some of that stuff,” McHale said. “You don’t say anything to someone’s (mother). I never thought of talking bad about Magic (Johnson’s) mother. It’s hard enough talking crap to Magic. We all talk smack, but nothing like that last night. That thought never even crossed your mind. […] I honestly don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there. I didn’t get a chance to talk to James’ mother about it. From what I heard, that’s just not right. I came from an era everybody talked smack. There was a lot of stuff going on. But not like that. It was much more, ‘I’m going to kick your (butt).’ What are you going to say about that. Then you went from there.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who has long conversed with fans on the road and has through the first two games of the series, said he heard about Barnes’ comments on Thursday, describing them as inappropriate.
“I didn’t hear about that until (Thursday) morning,” Rivers said. “I have found Houston to pretty much be fun. They are loud. They get on you, but in a nice way. So as long as you keep it that way, you should. But I don’t think you should ever get involved in an exchange. That’s not basketball.”
