It has rightly been said that behind every successful man, there is a woman. And in most cases, it is a man’s mother who is his backbone and rock in his life pursuits. At least, that is what James Harden feels about his mother.

Therefore, in his 2017-18 season MVP speech, Harden brought on his mother to the stage and described her like that. Just like her son’s teammate Kevin Durant’s mother attends games to support her son, Monja Willis attended a game to support her son.

However, this game differed from other games. Because Monja decided she is going to involve herself in the trash-talking that only players indulge in on the court. Somehow, this ended up costing a player big time.

The time James Harden’s mother cost Matt Barnes $50,000

James Harden’s mother got into an altercation with LA Clippers’ small forward Matt Barnes during the 2015 playoffs. In the second round of the playoffs, the Rockets and Clippers met, and things became heated between Barnes and Monja Willis.

While someone was shooting a free-throw, Willis yelled, “Take your f**got a** back to LA” to Barnes, who was defending Harden. Once Barnes heard Harden’s mom, he responded by saying, “S*ck my di** bi**h.”

DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers told Barnes in the locker room that Harden’s mother was the woman at whom he yelled the insults. Barnes approached Willis near the team buses after the game and apologized to her. After losing his mother, the NBA bad boy vowed to never insult another mother.

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When the series returned to Los Angeles, Harden’s mother didn’t accept Barnes’ apology until the second time they spoke. The two exchanged handshakes, and Harden seemed unfazed about Barnes. Matt Barnes’ actions toward James Harden’s mother were discovered by the NBA, and he was fined a large sum of money.

What did James Harden do to get suspended?

In the same year as Barnes was fined for yelling the aforementioned profanity, Harden only faced a single-game suspension for kicking LeBron James. Yes, you read that correctly, while shouting yields a $50,000 fine, a physical altercation on the floor only got a single game suspension. So the league seems to have an extremely arbitrary approach towards players’ conduct on the floor.

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