Former NBA star Matt Barnes took to social media to deny rumors that an artificial intelligence (AI) model had scammed him out of $61,000 on a dating app.
Per PEOPLE, Barnes, 45, addressed the rumors in a video he posted on his Instagram account on Monday, December 8.
In the video, the NBA champion starts by saying that he “hit rock bottom” not too long ago and experienced “a lot of negatives, [and] a lot of positives from 2025.” Despite experiencing many negatives, Barnes stated that he was never scammed out of $61,000 by an AI model.
Barnes said that the rumors about him included “me being gay” and him “suing [an] AI model, or I got played by [an] AI model.”
“And all these little bottom of the barrel-a– blogs pick it up. Shout out to the ones that are real and know the bulls— or at least check,” the former Los Angeles Lakers star said. “Some of you bottom of the barrel a– motherf—— keep running the same garbage, but you guys believe that I got played by [an] AI model and I’m suing ‘em?”
“Where the f— did you guys get this from? For real. Seriously,” Barnes, who currently co-hosts the All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson podcast, also said.
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Barnes, in the video, also made mention of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, as he hopped on his podcast to discuss the rumor, PEOPLE reported. Barnes and Arenas, 43, appear to have a close relationship, as they were teammates on the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Barnes and Arenas have also been on the same podcasts before. Besides that, Barnes and Arenas’ children are first cousins, as their former partners, Gloria Govan and Laura Govan, are sisters.
“And I had a conversation with Gilbert,” Barnes said. “He addressed the bulls— and from there it caught fire.”
“I told him, ‘Bro, after all we been through, bro, like, tap in with me and see if it’s real,’” he added. “He said he apologized, he didn’t know it was that deep, but someone I’m close with addresses the lie and it catches fire.”
Barnes further stated that “y’all can’t believe everything you motherf—— hear.” He continued: “Like I said, I been dealing with some real s— while y’all been lying, but anyway, you know what they say. When the hate don’t work, they gotta start lying. But y’all motherf—— don’t have to believe ‘em. Trust me, you don’t.”
Barnes concluded his video by saying, “Stay blessed 2026, we coming.”
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