LeBron James calls out Harrison Barnes' in-game trade as hypocrisy against players, and Anthony Davis agrees

Harrison Barnes and the rest of the NBA received a strong reminder that basketball is a business on Wednesday when the Dallas Mavericks forward was shipped to the Sacramento Kings while he was still on the court.

That development clearly didn’t sit well with one particularly well-known observer: LeBron James. The Los Angeles Lakers star took to Instagram to air his frustrations over the differing narratives surrounding moves made by the league’s players and its teams.

LeBron James is fed up with players being called ‘selfish’

“So let me guess this is cool cause they had to do what was best for the franchise right???” James wrote. “Traded this man while he was literally playing in the game and had ZERO idea. I’m not knocking who traded him because it’s a business and you have to do what you feel what’s best but I just want this narrative to start to get REAL/CHANGE and not when a player wants to be traded or leaves a Franchise that he’s a selfish/ungrateful player but when they trade you, release , waive, cut etc etc it’s best for them! I’m ok with both honestly, truly am. Just call a [spade] a [spade]!!”

Clearly, James is annoyed with how teams using strong business practices are widely seen as shrewd, while players doing what’s best for themselves are considered selfish. There’s an inherent imbalance when players are pressured to do what’s best for their team, especially when the beneficiaries of such selflessness are usually not the player’s teammates, but the owners pulling in millions off their labor.

This argument obviously takes place in a larger context. James is absolutely no stranger to acrimonious divorces from teams that were just lucky to have him, but he’s probably talking about Anthony Davis at this point.

Davis has endured plenty of criticism, and fines, in his attempt to leave a New Orleans Pelicans team that has made the playoffs just twice since 2012 despite having one of the best players of the generation. As the Pelicans try to maximize their return from Davis’ trade request, and possibly sabotage James’ team in the process, that narrative imbalance is on full display.

Funnily enough, Davis seems to agree with James’ argument:

With the trade deadline set to come at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, Davis isn’t expected to land with a new team. Part of the reason for that is the Boston Celtics, a team he is reported to have no interest in joining, only being able to trade for him in the offseason. Don’t hold your breath on the Pelicans honoring Davis’ wishes if the Celtics come in with the best offer.

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