The Indiana Pacers' locker room was a calm and happy place Sunday afternoon.

The players, fresh out of a team meeting and looking forward to tonight's season-opener in New Jersey, were lifting weights and receiving treatment for injuries.

Then Derrick McKey dropped a bombshell. Having just returned from team president Donnie Walsh's office, McKey began circulating to tell everyone he had been waived.

"Half of the guys didn't believe me," McKey said Monday night from his home in Zionsville. "They said, 'Stop playing.' It's not a good feeling to say goodbye."