Dressed in his Miami Heat uniform, Mike Bibby ambled into the Hawks' locker room about 45 minutes before tipoff.
"At least they didn't give my locker away," Bibby said as he walked toward his old corner stall before taking another look. "Hey, they did give it away!"
Just then, the locker's new resident and the player acquired for Bibby, guard Kirk Hinrich, walked in to the locker room.
"Hey, Kirk, what's up?" said Bibby, exchanging a hug with Hinrich.
One of the more popular Hawks among teammates during his four seasons with the team, Bibby returned to Philips Arena with the Heat on Friday.
"Maybe it was good for both teams," Bibby said of the trade. "But I'm glad to be back here, to get to see some old friends and just have fun tonight."
Among those more eager to see Bibby were forward Josh Smith, Bibby's closest friend on the team, and guard Jeff Teague, whom Bibby mentored. After the trade, Bibby gave Teague a pep talk over the phone.
Bibby "told me it's an opportunity, so take full advantage of it," Teague said.
When he checked into the game with 6.5 seconds left in the first quarter, he received hearty applause with a smattering of boos, some Hawks fans rising to their feet to thank Bibby for his work as a Hawk.
Bibby acknowledged being hurt by the trade. He had grown comfortable with the team and the city, but he said, "This is a business. They felt they needed to change the point guard position, and that's what they did. Somebody's trash is somebody else's treasure."
Bibby is content playing with the Heat, coming off the bench to provide 3-point marksmanship and his savvy. He joined the team March 2 after buying out his contract with the Washington Wizards, to whom the Hawks traded Bibby.
"The last couple games [Bibby has made] progress in terms of him knowing what we're looking for, getting us organized," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Bibby said that the Heat, while they show a serious demeanor on the court, are just as loose a group as the Hawks. Playing with stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh has been an experience.
"It's different," Bibby said. "[In] Miami, every game is sold out, and on the road, every game's sold out. I’m just trying to gather it all in again."
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