George Hill Learned He Was Traded From A Larry Bird Voicemail

George Hill was traded from his hometown Indiana Pacers to the Utah Jazz on June 22, but he wasn’t told about the deal in person. Instead, Pacers president Larry Bird left him a voicemail.

Hill was at a workout and afterwards checked his phone and had a voicemail from Bird that said, “we had to trade you to Utah.” Th 30-year-old guard had the following to say about the situation:

"“It came as a surprise. Last time I checked, I was supposed to retire from Indiana. Very surprising, but I know this is a business and anything can happen. So, I’m not upset about it. I think I’m in a great situation here. I’m here, somewhere where I feel wanted right now.”"

The sports world moves fast and Bird probably had to leave him some kind of message so he got it to him before Hill was buried under an avalanche of text messages. Still, it just seems kind of cold to leave a voicemail without a “call me immediately” or “I need to see you now” kind of message and just stating the fact. But it’s also completely unsurprising if you know anything about Bird.

As Kelly Dwyer points out, the Pacers boss isn’t exactly known for being gracious when showing former employees out the door. The fact that Hill is an Indianapolis native and had to be bummed to leave his hometown team only makes it worse.