Sacramento Kings forward Matt Barnes is the subject of a New York Police Department investigation after a reported confrontation inside a Chelsea nightclub. Initial reports said that the NBA veteran choked a woman inside Avenue Nightclub that prompted a 911 call after midnight.
The incident, first reported by TMZ, happened early Monday morning following the Sacramento Kings’ 106-98 loss to the New York Knicks. According to USA Today, police received reports that a man inside a Chelsea neighborhood club choked a woman, while two other individuals (a man and another woman) were assaulted as they attempted to intervene. The report adds that footage of the incident appeared to show Matt Barnes as the assailant.
Matt Barnes, who fled the scene before police came, took to Instagram to address the situation writing, “There’s always two sides to a story.. The side the media consistently tries to paint of me…. And what actually happened! Don’t believe everything you read.” “We continue to cooperate fully with the authorities,” Matt Barnes’ attorney Alex Spiro, for his part, told USA Today.
A photo posted by matt_barnes9 (@matt_barnes9) on Dec 5, 2016 at 10:43am PST
The TMZ video released showed Matt Barnes outside the club along with teammate DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins appeared to be talking about the incident and was visibly rubbing his right fist. According to a New York Post report, Barnes allegedly choked a 26-year-old woman sitting at a nearby table inside the nightclub at around 3:20 a.m., while a representative for the versatile NBA swingman told TMZ that the woman slapped Barnes in the face after she was accidentally “butt bumped” in the VIP section.
“We do not believe a crime was committed. We are cooperating with law enforcement and are hopeful no charges will be pressed,” Spiro told the Sacramento Bee. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings also released a statement saying, “We have clear standards of conduct and behavior expected of the entire Kings organization – on and off the court. We are working with all parties involved to gather information in order to take any appropriate next steps.”
