The Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis era all started in 2019 when they sent a massive package to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for the All-Star big man. That blockbuster trade included Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and no less than three future first-round picks. It was an undeniably massive haul for the Pelicans, but now that we have the benefit of hindsight, the fact that the Lakers won the title that season only goes to show how it was a totally worthwhile deal.
At that time, Josh Hart decided to post a selfie of himself with a big smile on social media. This was in the immediate aftermath of the trade, which led people to believe that he was happy to be leaving LA. Hart has now broken his silence about that controversial post as the New York Knicks stud admits that it was actually all a front:
“It was smiling through the pain,” Hart told Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report. “Because I was sick. I did not want to leave. I posted that as a false front of like, ‘Yeah, I'm excited to go to New Orleans.' Nah. I got to LA and my biggest thing was I always wanted to be in the league and be with at least one team for a long time. I wanted a place to have as home. That was a bummer for me to get traded.”
For reference, here's the selfie that Hart posted via his IG Story back in June 2019 right after his trade from the Lakers was announced:
From Josh Hart’s IG story…. pic.twitter.com/CEsbZl6UYl
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) June 15, 2019
Josh Hart did say that he did not feel like he got “disrespected” with the deal given how he was basically traded for Anthony Davis. There's no shame in that, but to this day, the Knicks forward admits that he was totally bummed out to be leaving the Lakers:
“It was like, ‘Let me post this so people would think, ‘Oh, he's excited. He's happy and all that.' But no, deep down, I'm like, ‘Damn. I don't wanna leave,'” Hart continued. “… It was like smiling through that and trying to put that false macho front of like, ‘Yeah, I'm good.'”
In spite of that painful experience, it has all worked out eventually for Josh Hart. He's now with the Knicks and he's on the brink of signing what is expected to be the biggest contract of his career. It's all good.
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