Ex-NBA star slams ESPN host

You didn’t think Paul Finebaum would get the last word regarding Deion Sanders, did you?

That’s not how the sports media machine — or Matt Barnes — operates.

Colorado and its head coach made waves by banning The Denver Post ‘s Sean Keeler from asking Sanders questions moving forward, citing “a series of sustained, personal attacks.” Per the Post , Sanders has a clause in his contract that only requires him to speak with “mutually agreed upon media.”

Keeler no longer being “mutually agreed upon media,” at least in the eyes of Sanders and the University, has ruffled some feathers, particularly those of Finebaum. The longtime ESPN college football analyst took aim at Sanders , saying, among other things, that he’s not ready for primetime.

And wouldn’t you know, Finebaum ruffled some feathers himself. Specifically, Matt Barnes’. The ex-NBA forward-turned-media personality has always been a bit prickly. But his attack on Finebaum for attacking Sanders seems to take the cake.

“I wanna start by saying I think you’re good at your job, you give solid insight to the college game,” Barnesw rote on Instagram.

“With that being said, you work for the Biggest & Best sports platform in the World. And no one knows who you are!
You have weird fascination w @deionsanders and you’re trying to ride his wave the same way @skipbayless did w Bron for 20yrs..

“You’re mad he’s not speaking to media they either, disrespected his family, team or him.. I think your words were
‘This isn’t America’ & ‘I’m mortified’ for him not allowing columnist to disrespect…

“BUT I guarantee you won’t say a word about the positive impact he’s making not only on the field but off. Preparing these young men not only for the nxt level in sports but Life. I’ve been out to Colorado, I’ve seen w my own eyes the tremendous eco system he’s built for these young men to succeed in LIFE, f*ck sports!

“Hate i had to say all that before I S/O my brotha @deionsanders for being a true leader of Men!

“@finebaumshow take your personal jealousy & emotions out of reporting. Your G-string is showing.”

Before we make our own notes and observations, there were a few comments in the replies. One came from Sanders himself, who wrote in response to Barnes’ Instagram post, “Not 1 lie told or sold.”

The other was former ESPN star Jemele Hill, who had this to say about the whole ordeal:

“At the risk of being verbally jumped in the comments, let me add a slightly different perspective as a career journalist,” Hill wrote. “Deion has a right to do what he feels is right for his program, but at the same time, banning reporters from asking questions is a slippery slope. I’ve dealt with athletes before who didn’t talk to me because I (fairly) critiqued their performance because of a pattern of disappointing results. They took it personal. Totally his right, but there are some people who don’t like being critiqued.

“Had another coach give me an earful because I asked him about a very prevalent rumor about a verbal spat he had with one of his players. I was just trying to get to the truth and he accused me of undermining his program. Like, what?

“Now based off what I read, it sounds like this columnist has been critical of Deion from the start, so I understand why the acrimony is there. But like it or not, the media is not there to be your friend or boost the program. I’m not accusing Deion of this, but I’ve covered coaches and players who only want media access on their terms. Bottom line, Deion really shouldn’t care, because until he banned this columnist from asking questions, most people had not heard of him.”

Barnes’ decision to fight fire with fire is an interesting one here. His comments were equally, if not more, disrespectful toward Finebaum, but that seemed to be the intention here anyway. And the “G-string is showing” line seemed to undermine his argument, whether you agree with how he went after Finebaum. He also contradicted himself by claiming that Finebaum is “good at his job” while stating that “no one knows who you are.”

All the Smoke (with Stephen Jackson) is pretty big, but acting like Finebaum is a nobody is a bit silly.

[Matt Barnes on Instagram]

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