A woman accused Matt Barnes of choking her and her male friends are saying Barnes beat them up in the club.
Barnes paints a different picture to TMZ and claims he was the one assaulted.
A rep for the NBA star tells us … Barnes was having a good time at Avenue Nightclub with his teammate, DeMarcus Cousins, when he went to sit at his VIP booth and accidentally “butt bumped” a woman who was at the next booth over.
Barnes claims the woman reacted by slapping him in the face, hard — and that’s when all hell broke loose.
Barnes claims the woman’s crew — which included several men — jumped in and began to get violent. Barnes was knocked to the ground in the melee and one of the men began to choke him.
We’re told Barnes got physical in an effort to protect himself. Cousins also jumped in to defend Barnes. In footage shot moments after the fight, Cousins references Barnes getting choked.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. They let anyone in VIP these days and it has become way too crowded, so I can see how a misunderstanding could lead to a brawl.
Barnes is wanted by NYPD for questioning.
Flip the page for post brawl video, Cousins seems very pleased by the outcome…