NBA Vet Derek Fisher Is Engaged to the Ex-Wife of Former Teammate and Rival Matt Barnes
Is all fair in love and basketball?
News broke on Tuesday that NBA veteran Derek Fisher, 43, had gotten engaged to girlfriend of three years, Gloria Govan, 33 — the Basketball Wives L.A. star who just happens to be the ex-wife of Fisher’s ex-Los Angeles Lakers teammate Matt Barnes.
According to TMZ Sports, Fisher popped the question back on April 7 while he and Govan were at a family get-together at their Los Angeles-area home. Their engagement comes nearly a year after the pair were involved in a serious DUI crash.
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It’ll be a second marriage for both. Fisher — a former New York Knicks coach and contestant on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars — was married to ex-wife Candace for 11 years before the couple settled their messy divorce in May 2016, the New York Post reported at the time. They have four children together.
Govan and Barnes, 38, had a messy divorce of their own, splitting back in 2014 after nearly 2 years married. They settled their divorce in December 2016, TMZ reported. The former couple have twin boys together, both born in 2008.
Both Fisher and Govan were still legally married at the time they began dating in 2015, a point of contention that reportedly drove a wedge between Fisher and Barnes’ friendship. The two had played together on the Lakers from 2010 to 2012 and were “very close” at the time, ESPN reported.
But all that didn’t seem to matter in October 2015, when Barnes reportedly got into a physical altercation with Fisher — then the head coach of the New York Knicks — at Govan’s house.
Things only intensified from there, with the two players and the women trading verbal jabs for years in the press and on social media.
Just in February, Barnes and Govan traded barbs in a since-deleted Instagram post captured by The Shade Room, where Govan accused Barnes of involving her in a “frivolous lawsuit” and Barnes claimed Govan had been “forging [his] signature” and “stealing money” from him.
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So how did Barnes handle news of the engagement? Surprisingly well.
Barnes offered his congratulations on Tuesday in a since-deleted Instagram post, USA Today reported — writing in part: “You guys want this to be an issue, it’s not! I’ve known about this for a few weeks & I am all for it.. My kids matter to me at this point, that’s it!”
“I have two beautiful boys from my ex. We are both focusing on co-parenting, and providing the best atmosphere and childhood for them,” Barnes continued. “They love him, so I love it. Despite not seeing eye to eye initially with Derek, he and I are on the same page and communicate weekly about [my sons]. With that being said, congrats on the engagement!”
