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The NBA slapped a fine on Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes for his comments “condoning violence,” the league announced Sunday.

Barnes told reporters Saturday before Memphis’s game against the New York Knicks “violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is.” He made the comment in reference to his off-season incident with Knicks coach Derek Fisher, in which Barnes reportedly socked Fisher in the face.

Fisher was at the home of Barnes’ ex-wife Gloria Govan when the altercation occurred.

Barnes was suspended two games for the incident earlier this season. He recently filed a grievance with the NBA in an attempt to recoup the salary he lost from the suspension.

Barnes was part of the Memphis Grizzlies win over the New York Knicks Saturday night. Before the game, which took place in Memphis with added security, Barnes told reporters that he wouldn’t interact with Fisher at all.

“I don’t talk to snakes,” Barnes told the Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. 

“I know I got to keep my mouth shut because then he’ll run and tell. So we’re focused on playing that team (the Knicks). And when I’m retired, him and I will cross paths again.”

The fine comes about because on Saturday, Barnes told reporters, “Every man who looks at the situation knows what’s right and wrong. Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is.”

Govan, Barnes’ estranged wife, mother of his twin sons and a former star of the reality show Basketball Wives, has not said anything publicly about the alleged fight.

 

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