Mark Cuban Trades for Rajon Rondo Among Big Bird, Katie Couric, Cyndi Lauper, and Hundreds of His Closest Friends

It’s not that Mark Cuban pulled the trigger to land Rajon Rondo. It’s how he did it.

The Boston Celtics sent one of the game’s top point guards and forward Dwight Powell to the Dallas Mavericks. In exchange, they received Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, a conditional first-round pick, and other cash and draft considerations.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban did the deal not in a Mavericks war room alongside his front-office staff but amidst Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Patrick Stewart, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, U.S. ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers, and other stars bright and dim at the Stephen Colbert finale.

From #Colbert Farewell: @MarkCuban finalized Rondo deal in green room, sitting w/Waterston, Daniels, me + dismaying UN Amb. Samantha Power

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) December 19, 2014

Could Power’s time at Harvard instilled in her an affinity for the playmaking skills of Rondo?

The Shark Tank star swam with the big fishes at The Colbert Report sendoff. The cast of seemingly hundreds featured a diverse array of liberal conformists, including economist Paul Krugman, sportscaster Bob Costas, scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kennedys court historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Senator Chuck Schumer, feminist Gloria Steinem, and publisher Arianna Huffington.

How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?