Matt Barnes was arrested yesterday on felony domestic violence charges after a domestic dispute with a woman “who lived with him and with whom he had a dating relationship.” (Sacramento Bee)

Sacramento County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said deputies responded to an incomplete 911 call from the 8100 block of Sunset Avenue at about 4:15 p.m., where they encountered Barnes and a woman “who lived with him and with whom he had a dating relationship.”

After speaking to Barnes and the woman, deputies determined that the two had been in a physical confrontation and Barnes had prevented the woman from talking to 911 operators. Curran said dispatchers heard the sound of a struggle in the background on the brief open line until it was disconnected.

Both parties had visible injuries but Barnes was determined to be the primary aggressor, Curran said.

Barnes is also charged with maliciously obstructing the use of a telephone line, Curran said. He posted a $50,000 bond and was released shortly before 9:40 p.m.

He is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

In response to his arrest, Barnes tweeted, “Don’t let your ears witness what your eyes didn’t see” and texted News 10 in Sacramento, “Any domestic violence situation 9 outa 10 times the man gets arrested. That’s the case here I was the victim but still got arrested.”

This is only the 5,498th time I’ve written about Barnes this summer, so please pardon me if I’m a little (read: a lot) sick of him. He could have received a Nobel Peace prize and my reaction probably still would have been, “eff him.” But instead of the Nobel Prize, Barnes went with the old “hit your girlfriend and prevent her from talking to 911 operators” trick. Not exactly the way to get back on my good side.

My reaction? Any man who hits a woman isn’t a real man. It’s that simple. Barnes, as tough as he acts on a basketball court, can’t claim to be a real man.

That being said, I’m sure we’re missing some details.  So if it comes out that Barnes really was the victim, that the second he walked in the door his girlfriend was weilding a butcher’s knife and sprinting after him with a rabid look in her eye, then maybe Barnes had no other choice. Self defense is self defense, whether it’s against a three-foot tall woman or Shaquille O’Neal. And if he’s really the victim, as he claims to be, perhaps Barnes really is a man after all. A man who plays for the wrong team, but a man nonetheless.

Either way, violent domestic disputes never end well. For either the victim or the aggressor. Why can’t we all just get along?

P.S. – I can’t wait (!) to read Jay Mariotti’s column blasting Barnes for such an unforgivable sin. Zing.