Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes and New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher. AP FILE PHOTOS
LOS ANGELES, United States—Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes welcomed the New Year with an Instagram swipe at New York Knicks coach Derek Fisher—just one thorn in the player’s side in a 2015 he has dubbed the worst year of his life.
READ: NBA: Grizzlies’ Barnes suspended 2 games
Days earlier, the NBA had suspended Barnes for two games for a physical altercation with his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Fisher at the California home of Barnes’s estranged wife Gloria Govan.
READ: Knicks’ Fisher has altercation with Matt Barnes
“Stuck in the ‘triangle offense’ w my ex & snitch, I mean former teammate & friend. Who went behind my back, messed w my ex, got caught, got dealt w for being a snake, then ran & told the Police & NBA,” Barnes wrote.
“Guess cause I didn’t SNITCH, I get a 2 game suspension by the league ‘They call that LIFE.'”
In addition to regretting his estrangement from his family, Barnes bemoans the trade that took him “away from a team & city I love.”
Likening his life in 2015 to a bad reality show, Barnes admits he “had a hand” in his misfortunes.
“I was never perfect in my relationship, I didn’t see eye to eye w my head coach,” he said.
Barnes also took an apparent shot at R&B superstar Rihanna, who used social media to douse his suggestion to TMZ that the two were close.
“Lied on by a pop star Who’s lucky I stuck to the script,” Barnes fumed, before signing off:
“HAPPY NEW YEAR, LOVE #THEBADGUY.”
The New York Post reported that Fisher had no comment when asked about Barnes at the Knicks’ shootaround on Friday.
But the player’s lingering animosity promises to add spice to the Grizzlies-Knicks matchup in Memphis on January 16.