While the Dallas Mavericks were in the midst of defeating the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, Mavs player Harrison Barnes was forced onto the bench in the fourth quarter as news broke that he had been traded to the Sacramento Kings. The Mavericks got Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson in the trade. It was a weird scene though seeing a player get traded in the middle of the game, watching his former teammates on the Mavs sideline minutes after finding out he was now a member of a different franchise.
Afterward, veteran Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki spoke about how impressed he was with Barnes for staying on the bench.
"He's a better man than me, for sure," Nowitzki said according to ESPN. "Everybody else would have bounced. He's just a generally good dude. He's obviously got bonds with some of these players here for life, and that's the kind of guy that he is."
Even LeBron James weighed in on the drama and commented on how there is some hypocrisy in the NBA as players are called out for requesting trades but the GM's get no flack for cutting a guy mid-game.
With the trade deadline coming up at 3 P.M. today, stay tuned for any updates regarding big deals.