According to two fans who were at Monday's championship series opener (Pro-AM league) and
spoke to FanHouse, Barnes — who was arguing a call with an official
during the third quarter of a contentious game — slapped an assistant
coach of the Gold Rush team after a brief verbal exchange. The coach,
according to a report on the web site Sports by Brooks, was Rick Lewis.Having already diffused several "minor tussles," as one of the fans who
spoke to FanHouse said, the officials conferred and assessed double
technical fouls and let all involved continue play. Barnes told FanHouse
on Wednesday night that the coach's taunting in his ear caused him to
lose his temper but said he should have handled the situation
differently."Some people do too much or talk too much, and there's only so much you
can take," said Barnes, who does not expect the coach to pursue a
lawsuit. "It's hard. It's definitely hard when the refs have it out for
you, saying 'Oh, you're in the NBA, so you don't get this (call) and we're going to call this.' Then the coach is talking and completely disrespecting me.
The columnist – Sam Amick – doesn't criticize Barnes for his behavior. Instead, he labels Barnes as a "fiery" guy. What a joke.
If I'm the coach who was assaulted by Barnes, I'd slap him with a lawsuit immediately.
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