After retiring in 2017 with 14 seasons in the NBA, Matt Barnes’ life post-basketball became mostly about his podcast and proactive parenting. Barnes started one of the best basketball podcasts, All the Smoke, along with Stephen Jackson in 2019. As for proactive parenting, he believes in acting ahead of time rather than letting children commit mistakes first. One such instance includes when he got his two sons protection to impart them some s*x education, as mentioned by Barnes on the Point Forward podcast.

In another instance, shared by Barnes, he mentioned how his kids once caught him smoking up. And rather than lying that it was a cigarette, he told them the truth and also advised, “Whenever you guys are ready to smoke, lemme know cause I’ll smoke with you first. Cause I’ll want you to know how you are gonna feel. What is it gonna feel like, what is it gonna do to you.” So it is clear the 44-year-old has been one chill father. It is worth mentioning that Barnes is a biological father to three boys. Apart from this, he also acts as a parent to his girlfriend’s three children.     

Matt Barnes has a big, happy family

The former NBA star was once married to Gloria Govan, whom he reportedly met in his teenage days. They started dating in 2006 and welcomed their children into this world in 2008. The couple had a pair of twin sons — Carter Kelly Barnes and Isaiah Michael Barnes. They celebrated their 8th-grade graduation in May 2023, but by that time they had already gained social media popularity with their work. The twins run an Instagram page by the name of “thebarnesboys” with more than 35k followers. Apart from this, they also host a podcast on their YouTube channel named “Barnes Boyz”.

Barnes and Gloria appeared in season 1 of Basketball Wives in 2010. Appearing on the show, the couple gave a closer look into their family and their journey. Both of them tied the knot in 2013, but the marriage did not last even for more than three years. Notably, Matt Barnes is also a biological father to another child named Ashton Joseph Barnes.

After his divorce from Gloria Govan, the 2017 NBA champ started dating model Anansa Sims. And the couple welcomed their child, Ashton, into the world in 2018. Sims and Barnes separated in 2020 because of Barnes’ alleged infidelity issues. But they reunited in 2021 and got engaged to each other in 2022.

As a result, Barnes is now also a step-parent to Sims’ three children — Ava Brielle Patterson, David Bernard Patterson, and Dean Danny Benjamin Patterson — born out of her first marriage with David Patterson. “We’re excited to give people an inside look at our big, beautiful, crazy, blended family. Stay tuned,” Barnes and Sims shared in a joint press release ahead of their show, The Barnes Bunch, per Essence. It seems Barnes finally found the peace he was looking for in a relationship and family with Anansa Sims. 

Things started off on a good note between them, as the two even had a child within the first year of their relationship. However, the time when Barnes split with Sims because of cheating allegations against him was reportedly rough for the model.

As per the reports, the former NBA star became obsessive with his ex-girlfriend to the extent of harassing her on social media. However, after dating some other girls, he eventually reunited with Anansa and the couple has co-parented their six children since then.