Josh Hart is no longer a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, but it sure feels like he's got the city in his corner for life.
Case in point? After he learned he was being traded earlier in the day and unable to play in the game, he sat in the stands anyway wearing a Brandon Ingram jersey as his now-former team faced off with the Houston Rockets. Next to him was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was sent to Portland along with Didi Louzada and Tomas Satoransky in exchange for CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell.
The resurgent Pelicans won 110-97, their fourth in a row, and afterward, the remaining Pelicans exchanged an emotional farewell before heading off to join the Blazers.
Check out the moment below.
Pelicans head coach Willie Green illustrated just how rare that level of camaraderie was post-game, stating that he'd never seen anything like that in his playing or coaching career.
"Seeing guys come to the game to support their brothers," Green said, "it's what we're trying to build."
The Pelicans will now be hoping that team chemistry will carry into a new-look roster, which has undoubtedly added a scoring punch with the sharpshooting McCollum, along with Nance and Snell. The Pelicans have bounced back from a 3-16 start to now sit 22-32 and 10th in the Western Conference standings, which would put the team in position for its first postseason appearance since 2018 despite superstar Zion Williamson having yet to play a game this season, Green's first as a head coach.
