Bucks, Magic competing after teammates get moved at NBA Trade Deadline is not easy

Successful sports teams often build comradery in the locker room, becoming a tight-knit group on and off the court.

That's what makes the realities of the NBA so hard to handle.

When you're competing through blood, sweat, and tears to put your body on the line for your team, you're not just doing it for yourself, for the fans, for the coaches, for the team... but for your brother fighting in the trenches next to you.

That's why when your teammates is there one day and gone the next, it can come as a culture shock, and perhaps disrupt your team's flow,

How do NBA coaches manage this rollercoaster of emotions to motivate their team to still show up and compete knowing one of their brothers won't be with them the rest of the way?

NBA Coaches share realities of trading players mid season

I asked Doc Rivers about what Cole Anthony meant to this Bucks team and what challenges go into managing the emotions of the locker room to still go out and compete after a trade.

It is not easy trading anybody.

Cole was terrific, especially as a person in the locker room.

Forget the play and the game. People on the outside only look at the game; they do not ever look at the human.

We actually had a really good relationship. When you are telling a player that you are moving him, it is no fun. I have done it for a long time, and it rarely gets easy.

Players are conditioned to move on. At the end of the day they see themselves sitting in the seat, and they are very happy to be there. So they move on quickly.
Doc Rivers

I asked @Bucks HC Doc Rivers what Cole Anthony meant to Milwaukee’s locker room and about the challenges of competing after a trade:

“Cole was terrific, especially as a person in the locker room.

People on the outside only look at the game, they don’t ever look at the human.” pic.twitter.com/Tr7bs2baC3
— Ryan Kaminski NBA (@beyondtheRK) February 9, 2026

I asked Orlando Magic HC Jamahl Mosley a similar question after the Tyus Jones trade and how he handles balancing the locker room's comradery and emotions with the need to compete that same night:

The locker room was not happy. There was no celebration to it; they missed the guy they had been with before.

But you also understand, I said this before we got Tyus, his connection to so many guys – he is a Duke guy, so there is Paolo and Wendell; he is from Minnesota, so he had the mentorship with Jalen; he played in Memphis with Des.

So those are long-lasting relationships that are not just about the court.

I have said it time and time again, and I believe it until I can not say it anymore – we are in the relationship business; and it is about people.

So when that happens, you feel for the person, and the husband, and the father first.

And then you talk about the court, knowing he still gets to play basketball, which is still a privilege. Because that is the business side of it, but we are also in the business of winning games.

So you have got to find a way to do that as well. The guys will find a way to respond tonight, and it goes back to the fundamental side of our defensive focus, and our effort and our energy as that ball gets tipped up.

Jamahl Mosley

It's not easy to take care of business after seeing the cold side of the business up close and personal, but at the end of the day, players being traded at any moment is a harsh reality.

To quote Don Draper, "that's what the money is for!"

But fans shouldn't forget, NBA players are people first, and human emotion is a key ingredient in building comradery and chemistry; when you fight for your brother next to you, you lose some of that fight when he disappears.

Coaches and players finding the healthiest way to navigate those emotions while still preparing to play an NBA basketball game like business as usual is a tight pathway to walk.