“So, uh, I guess you heard I got traded,” Kyle Korver said awkwardly to his teammate Dennis Schröder.
“Yeah, too bad,” Dennis said, feigning sympathy. “But NBA is business. It is not there to protect feelings of players.”
“So, I’m saying bye to all the guys, and then I’m outta here,” Kyle continued.
Dennis realized this was the part of the departure process where he was supposed to hug his now-former teammate. He had already seen Kyle hugging several other people in the locker room. Reluctantly, he held out his arms and received a hug that lasted only a few seconds. Kyle’s back-pats were not reciprocated. “So, I guess I’ll see you on the road.”
“I guess,” Dennis replied. “It was fun to play with good shooter like you.” This was a lie; Dennis resented playing with anybody who showed any inclination to shoot the basketball, because that meant fewer shot attempts for him.
“It’s your team now,” Kyle said.
Dennis hoped his smile was properly humble. “Maybe,” he admitted, but inside, he knew that his nefarious plan to take over the Hawks for his own personal benefit had been an unrivaled success. “See you.”
“Yeah. See you.”
After Kyle was gone, Dennis retrieved a small slip of paper, on which were written the names of the players he had vowed to get rid of when he joined the team. Jeff Teague and Al Horford were already crossed out. Now Dennis took out a pen and crossed off Kyle’s name. There was only one name left, and Dennis felt confident that he would be crossing it off soon enough: Paul Millsap.
Dennis chuckled maniacally to himself.