Matt Barnes details uncomfortable atmosphere on Clippers plane as takeoff was delayed until trade deadline passed
By Mike Dyce
The NBA trade deadline can be a tense time for players. They sit waiting to find out if they’re being shipped off to a new city and a new team, maybe they want to leave, more often then not they probably want to stay.
It can create awkward moments as well. The plane was loaded to head to Memphis for a game, but the Clippers plane stayed on the ground waiting for the trade deadline to pass as the team negotiate with other clubs.
From Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles:
"With each minute that extended past their scheduled departure time, the tensions began to grow as players who were rumored to be traded, refreshed the Twitter pages on their smart phone and checked text messages.“The plane was a sweatbox today,” said Matt Barnes, who was prominent in trade talks with the New York Knicks for Iman Shumpert. “It’s just a business and it’s tough. We sat on that plane for almost two hours looking around in silence, looking at Twitter.“No one was really talking. We were looking around and the captain said [the delay was caused by] bad weather and we’re like, ‘Yeah, bulls—, we’re waiting for that trade deadline.’ I’m just glad it’s over.”"
The Clippers did in fact make a trade involving Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens, and the players got off the plane.