When Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans, there will be a lot of familiar faces on the opposing bench.
Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart now all play integral roles for the Pelicans and they seem happy about the trade that officially went through in July.
Hart seemed to be ecstatic about the move, considering his now-famous comments on the LightHarted podcast about the dark and dreary nature of the Lakers organization. His comments quickly made airwaves after he compared the Lakers to the feeling Ball had while in Lithuania with his family.
However bad his comments may have seemed, Hart was told they were going to get cut and when they weren’t, he proceeded to call several members of the Lakers organization to apologize and make sure there were no hard feelings, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:
“When my sarcasm, that wasn’t supposed to be in that — it was supposed to be cut — was in there, I called some of the people in the [Lakers] front office, I called some of my teammates that I had and made sure they knew that none of this stuff was about you guys,” Hart told ESPN on Sunday night.
Hart continued to say that he genuinely loved his time with the Lakers and shouted out the fans for their consistent support of the players on the team:
“I loved my time here. I loved my time here and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I love Laker Nation. They show so much love, so much support.”
Hart likely meant no ill will in his comments and especially now that he’s had time to look back on it. Hart calling players and members of the Lakers organization definitely shows the remorse he had in his comments even immediately after their release.
Players have every right to feel spurned by the organizations that move on from them even more so when it’s this early in their careers, but Hart had the sense to apologize for his comments knowing both the inaccuracy and the effect it might have on both his reputation and theirs.
The Lakers and Hart got winning ends of the trade as he and the former young core got to hit the reset button in a place with far less pressure and far fewer expectations.
The Lakers, on the other hand, got a generational player that can help them win it all in the 2020 NBA Finals and beyond.