| 09 September 2010
Matt Barnes' recent arrest could raise some questions about his departure from Orlando.
Zuma Press/PicApp
When news broke this morning that former Magic forward Matt Barnes was arrested on felony domestic violence charges, there might have been a sense of shock about the arrest. And then there might have been a rolling of the eyes and a thought of, well, another athlete getting arrested. UPDATE: Barnes' fiance is denying any claim a domestic abuse occurred.
Barnes endeared himself to Magic fans for his tough play, his devil may care attitude and his willingness to actually get in the faces of opponents who disrespected his teammates. By all accounts, Barnes was a great teammate and did not cause any problems.
But -- and I do not say this with any evidence to support it -- this arrest, while very deplorable, seems to be the kind of thing you get when you deal with Barnes (unfortunately). Barnes was known in Orlando, and to a certain extent in Golden State and Phoenix, for playing with his emotions on his sleeves. And while how you play may not necessarily be how you live, it is not far fetched to think that could carry over into his personal life.
Barnes is continuing to claim he was the victim in the incident and was arrested as the aggressor by the police.
Everyone in the NBA, I am sure, is hoping Barnes, his girlfriend and the police can settle the matter in a way that is equitable and just.
But whatever the facts may be in this case, it alludes to perhaps one of the underlying reasons for the Magic's decision to let Barnes go. The Magic have always been hesitant to hold on to or sign players that are either a disruption in the locker room or in trouble with the police.
I was listening to Colin Cowherd earlier this morning talking about the HBO show Hard Knocks. I am not usually a fan of his loud and boisterous delivery method of talk radio. But he brought up a good point. HBO's Hard Knocks only picks dysfunctional teams. They do this because there is inherently more drama and more intrigue.
They pick teams like the Cowboys, Bengals and Jets for the entertainment factor they bring. They don't pick championship-quality teams like the Patriots and the Colts. All they do is go about their business and win. Not entertaining stuff.
Maybe, then, we should not be so surprised Barnes had some trouble. It was Barnes and his fiance, Gloria Govan, who appeared prominently in VH1's Basketball Wives earlier this season. Again, no reason to tell the story without drama, although it would be difficult to foresee something of this gravity to occur.
Govan recently left the show after she and Matt claimed they were misled by the show's creator, Shaunie O'Neal, and were disgusted by what the show was actually about. Drama is all these type of shows want. I did not actually watch the show, but it appears it was "Real Housewives of the NBA" rather than what Govan and Barnes thought it would be (namely, a show about reality).
Let it be noted Dwight Howard wanted nothing to do with the show and urged Royce Reed, the mother of his child who appeared on the show, to keep his son off the show. To me, especially considering the recent news, shows the difference between a guy like Howard and a guy like Barnes (although Howard recently violated his custody agreement with Reed).
Barnes was a great player in Orlando. He filled his role perfectly as the team's defender. But his inability to consistently make 3-pointers ultimately made him expendable. By all accounts there were no issues with Barnes while he was with the Magic.
But this incident (whether he eventually gets charged or not) raises questions.
And those are questions Rich DeVos has not been willing to answer throughout his tenure as the team's owner. He famously refused to sign Keon Clark in 2003 after Clark was arrested for marijuana possession. You could argue Scott Skiles was let go after his run in with the law in Orlando. And you do not hear much from Jack "Goose" Givens on TV anymore in Orlando.
Granted, Darrell Armstrong was not shipped out after he resisted arrest and Orlando still drafted JJ Redick after he had a run in with the law in North Carolina before the NBA Draft in 2004 (it took a big hear-to-heart between Redick and Magic brass to convince them he could move on and grow from the arrest).
The Magic and police reports do not typically go together. Seeing something like this happen so soon after Barnes leaves makes you thankful for that (you can debate later if that is necessarily a good thing or not).
There is plenty of hope that the charges against Barnes will reach a just conclusion. But would it surprise you if rumblings of this type of behavior, if there were any, contributed to Orlando's decision to let Barnes walk?
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
