Derek Fisher is attempting to set the record straight regarding his firing, as well as his confrontation with Matt Barnes.
Fisher penned an essay for The Cauldron on Thursday in which he defended himself from some of the rumors that have surrounded both the Barnes situation and his firing.
“At no time did anyone at that meeting express to me that stories about my personal life were distracting from the collective task at hand, or — more important — that any of my players had expressed to management that they had lost confidence in me as their coach,” Fisher wrote about his termination by the Knicks. “Nothing remotely like that was ever brought up or discussed.”
Fisher then got to the Barnes story, and he disputed previous assertions made by Barnes that the two used to be close.
“As far as Matt goes, to say that we had history before the incident would be an exaggeration,” Fisher wrote. “We played together for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2010–11 season, and a couple months in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season. That’s it. That’s the history.
“During that time, we were teammates, and never had any issues. We never had any real relationship off the court, either. Our kids didn’t hang out, our families didn’t interact. There were no birthday parties. There were no post-game dinners. We weren’t friends and we had no mutual friends.”
Fisher went on to clarify that Barnes and Gloria Govan were separated at the time of the relationship and Fisher wasn’t doing anything behind anyone’s back.
“I don’t know what was going through Matt’s mind that day in October when he showed up unannounced at Gloria’s house, and started swinging,” Fisher wrote. “I didn’t retaliate. No one who was there did anything but try to get him to calm down, particularly because Matt and Gloria’s children were present. There was no fight.”
Fisher has been dogged by rumors about impropriety during his tenure with the Knicks, as well as stories about the incident with Barnes. Barnes’s version of events is quite different from Fisher’s, as you might imagine.
