Thirteen ejections in 14 seasons—Matt Barnes made chaos part of his brand. But the one thing that nearly ended it all? A beef that had nothing to do with Derek Fisher. All the Smoke is even celebrating that this week. Of all the times the basketball world counted Barnes out, none ever felt career-ending to him. That honor, he says, belongs to one man he still can’t stand to this day. And no, this is not Fisher.

The man at the center of this tale is Maurice ‘Mo’ Cheeks. And Matt Barnes vividly remembers that he almost ended his NBA career in Philadelphia over Mo. Maurice was the newly promoted head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers when a young Matt played there for five minutes. There was no love lost between them then nor today.

Speaking on the June 30 episode of The Rich Eisen Show, Barnes confessed he was on the brink of jeopardizing his entire career with a confrontation with the coach. He let out the most frustrated sigh just uttering the name, ‘Mo Cheeks.’ “I almost, my career almost ended before it started ’cause I almost fought Mo Cheeks.”

He claims Mo still saw himself as a player and teammate with his jokes despite moving from assistant to head coach. It broke Barnes’ heart as someone who was his fan. “But when he became the coach, he just kind of was too joking for a lot of people’s liking, but particularly mine.”

Selected in 2002, Barnes was barely 25 when he arrived in Philly. He didn’t get as many minutes then and treated practices like the real deal. Here, Cheeks was the obstacle. He was working with the shooting coach once when Mo told him, “I don’t know why you’re shooting, you’re not going to get to shoot here, haha.‘”

A surprised Barnes responded, “You’re a head coach, you’re saying that?” In another practice later, Barnes took an ill-advised shot. Cheeks brought practice to a halt just to berate Barnes for that. “You don’t shoot that here. That’s not what you’re here for. That’s why you don’t play,” Cheeks apparently said. “So I kind of took off. I was going to pounce on him, and luckily Chris [Webber] grabbed me, and yeah, and stopped me from doing it.”

In-game, this would result in an ejection, a fine, and a suspension. But fighting with a coach is generally considered a career-ender. Chris Webber stopped Barnes from ruining his career, but the sentiment towards Cheeks couldn’t be salvaged. “I was going to, I was going to put paws on Mo Cheeks. And to this day, I don’t dislike anyone. I dislike still to this day, Mo Cheeks. All the smoke.”

The fact that Matt can still say that speaks volumes. He’s not really the grudge-bearing kind. Just ask Derek Fisher.

Matt Barnes knows how to make peace

The former Clippers player has had plenty of beefs throughout his career that got physical. Sometimes off-court, like the fight with DeMarcus Cousins. One incident, though, was deeply personal to him.

Barnes was previously married to Gloria Govan from 2013 to 2016. Later, the Basketball Wives star began dating Derek Fisher, Barnes’ teammate on the Lakers squad. Barnes discovered their relationship through a Bluetooth call in the car.

It resulted in Barnes driving to his former home with Govan at 10 at night for a confrontation. He even called Gilbert Arenas (who was dating Govan’s sister at the time) to be ready in case he needed to post bail.

Later, there was a cold front between the former NBA players. Fisher was known to leave the gym at Barnes’ kids’ names when their dad showed up. With some mediation from their twin sons, Carter and Isiah, Barnes and Fisher finally buried the hatchet. These days, the ex-teammates are back to being friends, and Barnes acknowledges Fisher as his kids’ stepdad.

Barnes made peace with Fishe,r but could never do the same with Maurice Cheeks. He was traded to the Warriors after a short 50-game season with the Sixers. He had his best years there. Cheeks apparently got under his skin when the Warriors played against the Sixers. Barnes’ response was to drop 26 on his team.

We can’t imagine Matt Barnes without that fiery image. Yet it looks like only Mo Cheeks underestimated that.