Fired New York Knicks Coach Derek Fisher On Vacation With Matt Barnes’ Estranged Wife Gloria Govan

It looks like Derek Fisher and Gloria Govan are still going strong. Just days after it was announced that the New York Knicks fired Fisher as head coach, the now-unemployed basketball star headed off for a tropical vacation with Matt Barnes’ estranged wife.

Gloria Govan shared a group photo on Instagram as she got ready to board a plane. In the already-deleted picture, Derek Fisher can be seen peeking his head over the back of the crowd, giving a “hang loose” sign. Gloria was front and center for the photo that she captioned, “We’re in here.” Govan’s birthday is February 22, and she made it clear that the trip is a celebration, and that they are headed somewhere international based on the many hashtags in her caption.

Fisher was just fired days ago, and while some think it had to do with his horrible season coaching the Knicks, others believe the team let their head coach go because of his romantic life and his refusal to get out of the same dating pool as a few NBA players. The Knicks were 22-32, and not headed to the playoffs at the time of his dismissal, but he also had a 5-year contract with the team. Is it possible that Derek Fisher chose Gloria Govan over his job with the New York Knicks?

Hip Hollywood reports that Derek Fisher’s firing from the New York Knicks likely had something to do with the fact that the players lost respect for their coach after an altercation with Memphis Grizzlies player Matt Barnes. Fisher has been at odds with Matt Barnes, who used to be one of his good friends and a teammate when they played for the Los Angeles Lakers. That friendship ended abruptly when Barnes learned that “Uncle Derek,” as Barnes’ kids called him, was hooking up with his estranged wife, Gloria Govan.

Matt Barnes, probably. pic.twitter.com/MVijKdV8nU

— Matt Dollinger (@matt_dollinger) February 8, 2016

Back in October, when Barnes learned that Fisher was getting busy with his soon-to-be ex, he drove 95 miles from San Diego to Govan’s home in Los Angeles to confront Derek Fisher. Once Barnes arrived, Fisher was still there at Govan’s home, and it was pretty obvious that the two were intimate. Naturally, Matt Barnes lost his temper and, in front of his wife and kids, punched Derek Fisher.

Fisher called the police, resulting in Barnes’ later calling his former friend a snitch. Barnes’ also accused his friend of betraying the “bro code” by going behind his back to hook up with Gloria Govan, who isn’t even fully divorced from Barnes yet. Matt Barnes ended up getting suspended for two games, and later was forced to pay a $35k fine for commenting on the altercation when he said, “Violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is.”

This is Gloria Govan? I had no idea. If I was Derek Fisher, I’d fight for it too pic.twitter.com/YbRGRmaruT

— Swagusto Pinochet (@Hozay__) February 11, 2016

When Derek Fisher was fired from the Knicks, Matt Barnes turned around within the hour to respond via Instagram. Barnes posted a picture of himself looking very smug, but the photo had no caption at all. In the days since posting the picture, Barnes has been elusive about his intent, and won’t admit that the picture was his response to Fisher getting fired. Then again, there’s a pretty good possibility that Barnes has been ordered to stop commenting on Derek Fisher. Was it all part of the plan to have Derek Fisher fired for continuing to date the same women as the players?

It turns out that Fisher’s relationship with Gloria Govan isn’t even the first time the retired player-turned-coach may have been messing with the same woman as another NBA player. The Big Lead talks about some drama that Fisher and Tim Hardaway Jr. had regarding issues over a woman during the season, too, but it just didn’t explode the way the Matt Barnes drama did. Do you think that Derek Fisher would still have a job if he’d left the players’ dating pool alone and went after other women instead? Listen to Ball Breakdown talk about why Derek Fisher was fired below.

[Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images]