Former five-time NBA champion and ex-Knicks head coach Derek Fisher has remained largely silent about his firing and his relationship with reality star Gloria Govan, who also happened to be the estranged wife of Derek’s former Lakers’ teammate Derek Fisher.
Derek has decided to break his silence via an essay with The Cauldron.
Derek says he feels the media did Gloria dirty. That she’s an independent woman and was portrayed unfairly.
First, I was stunned and disappointed by the way Gloria was treated in the media. After the much publicized (and unfortunate) situation went down in Los Angeles last year, story after story was published that portrayed her as a piece of property, instead of the strong, independent woman and mother she is; someone who is capable of making her own decisions. This is a human being we are talking about, not some pawn in a game.
He then went on to say that he and Matt Barnes were cordial teammates, not really friends. That they were really only teammates for a season and a half.
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.
He also said both he and Gloria were single and free to date whom they please.
When Gloria and I started dating, she and Matt had already been separated and living apart for more than a year. Same thing for me. My wife and I were long separated; she was in L.A., I was in New York. Matt and Gloria were not trying to work things out, and I certainly wasn’t seeing her behind Matt’s back or in secret. The relationship wasn’t something I was trying to publicize, but it also wasn’t something I was trying to hide, either. There was no reason to.
And that the idea that Matt beat him down is false.
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. 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 then goes on to say that the “fight” story was leaked by Barnes camp and to look at Matt’s “history”
I’ll let you speculate on who leaked it and why, and the nature of their character. My reputation speaks for itself.
I guess Derek forgot how his character took a hit in 2011 following the NBA lockout negotiations.
No matter if you are Team Matt or Team Derek, all parties know the public side of beef is bad for their brand of business. If they were only on reality TV, it would probably get them a raise.
photo via Bennett Raglin
