Gloria Govan & Derek Fisher’s Marriage Is OVER & We’re NOT Surprised (She’s a Hot STANKIN’ Mess)

Gloria Govan, Matt Barnes, and Derek Fisher: The Messy Love Triangle That Never Left the Spotlight.

Former reality star Gloria Govan and retired NBA player and coach Derek Fisher once looked like they had finally found their happy ending.

But behind the polished image of marriage and family, their relationship was surrounded by drama almost from the start.

Add in exes, former teammates, custody battles, cheating accusations, broken friendships, and public scandals, and it becomes clear this was never going to be a quiet love story.

Now, with reports that Gloria and Derek are living separately, the story has taken yet another turn. To understand what really happened, you have to look at all three sides of the triangle: Gloria, Matt Barnes, and Derek Fisher.

Gloria and Matt: the relationship that started it all

Gloria Govan met former NBA player Matt Barnes when she was just 12 years old. Years later, they reconnected when Matt was playing for the Golden State Warriors and Gloria was living in Oakland.

They began dating in 2006, and from there, their relationship quickly became one of the most public and chaotic in celebrity sports culture.

Even before the relationship fully unraveled, it was already filled with tension, trust issues, and enough drama to fuel years of gossip.

At the same time, another woman named Candace had a son with former NFL star Marshall Faulk.

After that relationship ended, Marshall moved on, married Lindsay Stout, and had three children with her before that marriage also ended.

In a twist that sounds almost too tangled to believe, Lindsay later had a baby with NBA player Gilbert Arenas, who also had children with Gloria’s sister, Laura Govan.

This family tree quickly turned into a web of overlaps, exes, and scandals that seemed to touch nearly every relationship around them.

Derek Fisher enters the picture

Meanwhile, Derek Fisher built his own life and career in the NBA. After years with the Lakers, he married Candace, who had a son from her previous relationship with Marshall Faulk.

Derek and Candace formed what looked like a blended family, raising children together and building a stable home.

Soon after, they welcomed twins, Tatum and Drew Fisher, in June 2006.

But their family faced a devastating challenge when Tatum was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer and had only 10% vision in one eye.

Derek made a huge career decision in order to support her treatment. He asked to be released from his contract with the Utah Jazz, even though it meant giving up the remaining three years of his deal, worth around $20 million.

That decision showed how seriously he took his daughter’s health. He eventually rejoined the Lakers, giving Tatum access to excellent medical care in Los Angeles.

After surgery and chemotherapy, she went into remission and regained nearly half her eyesight.

At the time, Derek looked like a father who put family first.

Gloria and Matt’s public downfall

While that was happening, Gloria and Matt were still together and raising their own twins, Carter and Isaiah, born in 2008. They got engaged, and in 2010 Matt joined Derek on the Lakers.

But that same year, Matt was arrested after an incident involving Gloria. According to the *Los Angeles Times*, investigators found injuries on both sides, but determined Matt had been the aggressor. Gloria denied that he had done anything wrong, and the charges were later dropped.

The couple planned to marry in August 2010, but less than three weeks before the ceremony, they called it off.

Guests reportedly received the news by text message. The message asked people to respect Gloria’s privacy, but the breakup was already public knowledge.

Even after the split, Gloria and Matt remained connected. She joined the cast of *Basketball Wives* in 2010, and later appeared on the Los Angeles spin-off alongside her sister Laura.

But by October 2011, Matt revealed that they had broken up long before the show aired.

Gloria, however, accused Matt of cheating on her with actress Eva Longoria. Matt denied it and responded publicly by saying Gloria had been involved with a former friend of his.

He also claimed that he had agreed to keep their relationship looking intact for the show, even though the marriage had already fallen apart.

The accusations turned into another round of public humiliation for everyone involved.

Gloria and Derek: the next chapter no one expected

After all that chaos, Gloria and Matt still ended up making it to the altar in August 2013.

Their wedding took place at a resort in Santa Barbara, and Gloria’s father walked her down the aisle while Tupac’s “All Eyez on Me” played in the background.

The ceremony was memorable, but the relationship itself would not stay peaceful for long.

By 2014, Gloria announced that her marriage to Matt was over. A source later said Matt was the one who ended it because of trust issues. He filed for divorce in January 2015.

Around the same time, Derek’s marriage to Candace was also falling apart.

Just one month after celebrating their 10-year anniversary, Derek served Candace with divorce papers and moved out of their New York apartment in the middle of the night.

According to court documents, Candace said he cut off communication almost immediately, refusing to answer calls and texts and even ignoring their children for days.

Then came the moment that pushed the whole story into full-blown scandal.

In October 2015, Matt’s sons told him that Derek was at Gloria’s house. Matt drove to the home, where he found Derek and others gathered in the backyard.

A fight reportedly broke out. Matt later said he confronted Derek because he was upset that his former teammate was trying to sleep with his ex-wife.

Derek denied that the relationships overlapped. He said he and Gloria did not begin speaking seriously until after both he and Matt had already filed for divorce. To him, it was not a violation of “boy code.” But plenty of people disagreed.

The legal battles that followed

The divorces that followed were messy and expensive.

Derek and Candace finalized their divorce in May 2016. He agreed to pay monthly spousal and child support, and the couple also decided to destroy frozen embryos they had stored at a reproductive center.

Matt and Gloria finalized their divorce in December 2016. He was initially ordered to pay child and spousal support, though the amounts later changed.

In 2017, Gloria’s sister Laura appeared on *Fix My Life* and accused Gloria of sleeping with her baby daddy, Gilbert Arenas. The family drama only grew louder.

Then, in 2018, Derek and Gloria’s own relationship took another dark turn. While driving in Los Angeles, Derek lost control of his SUV and flipped it after hitting a guardrail.

Gloria was in the passenger seat at the time. No one was seriously injured, but Derek was charged with driving under the influence and later pleaded no contest.

By April 2018, Gloria and Derek were engaged. But just months later, another custody-related conflict led to Gloria’s arrest after a heated confrontation involving the twins.

Matt was granted primary custody and a restraining order, while Gloria was ordered to complete anger management and parenting classes.

At one point, Matt also accused Gloria and members of her family of trying to embezzle money from him.

Where things stand now

Despite everything, Gloria and Derek eventually married in July 2021 after postponing their ceremony during the pandemic. Gloria told *People* that their second marriages came with growth, honesty, and lessons learned through hardship.

But the peace did not last forever.

By 2026, TMZ reported that Gloria and Derek were living separately, though not yet filing for divorce. Sources said they were still communicating and trying to work through their issues.

Looking at the full timeline, it is hard to argue that this relationship ever had an easy path. Gloria and Matt were deeply chaotic.

Derek and Candace had their own painful breakdown. The overlaps, accusations, and entanglements turned all four adults into part of one long-running drama.

In the end, maybe the lesson is simple: when people keep showing you who they are, believe them.

Because a peaceful marriage is hard to build when the foundation is already cracked before it begins.