The saga of Matt Barnes and his ex-wife Gloria Govan continues as Barnes reportedly is fighting an alleged $133,000 judgment against him. The former Los Angeles Lakers forward hired a lawyer and reportedly showed up to court this week to fight the case as he was ordered to pay the bill.
Last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Barnes to pay Govan $133,976.54 in overdue payments for alleged past-due support, Radar reported this week. In addition, the court ordered him to pay $25K in fees and sanctions.
The report said although Govan was present with her attorney, Barnes was not, and as a result the judge entered a default judgment in favor of the former “Basketball Wives” star. Barnes said in newly filed documents he did not know about the hearing, claiming he needed to be notified appropriately.
Barnes is now contesting the court’s judgment on the amount Govan claims he owes in back child support.
Problems On Problems
After two years of marriage, Govan and Barnes divorced in 2015, and the two share 14-year-old twin boys, Carter and Isaiah. Initially, the ex-Lakers star was ordered to pay $20K per month in child support, slashed to $7,500 after he retired from the league.
Govan was a “Basketball Wives L.A.” star and has been battling Barnes in court over their twin boys for years. Eventually, Barnes was granted custody of their children in 2018. That same year, after Govan was arrested at the kids’ school, Barnes obtained a temporary restraining order against her and was granted full custody of the two kids. The courts believed that Govan was dealing with anger management issues and was a possible threat to the children. Eventually, Govan was able to gain 50/50 custody with Barnes.
Barnes and Govan were fodder for the tabloids in 2015 when he discovered that his ex-Lakers teammate Derek Fisher was dating his ex-wife. He reportedly drove 95 miles from Santa Barbara to Redondo Beach, California, to confront Fisher at Govan’s house.
Fisher was the head coach of the New York Knicks then, and Barnes did not know he had been dating her. Barnes reportedly found out when his sons called to tell him that Fisher was at the house. When the Barnes showed up a physical altercation ensued. The former teammates were once close.
Mirrored Issues
Ironically, Govan herself recently was reported to be on the wrong end of a default judgment when she was ordered to pay almost $200K to her former attorneys. The attorneys claim Govan has been refusing to pay for services rendered. The reality TV veteran hired Brot, Gross & Fishbein’s Family Law Services. However, the firm alleged in their lawsuit that Govan never paid the fees she’d been invoiced or any of the outstanding attorney costs.
Like Barnes, a default judgment was entered against Govan for failure to respond to the lawsuit, according to documents from Los Angeles Superior Court obtained by Radaronline.com. According to the ruling, she must pay a total of $197,774.
As Barnes settles into his new life as an NBA analyst and podcaster, he still fights old battles.
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