NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans have employed Joe Dumars — a former NBA champion as each a participant and an govt with the Detroit Pistons — as their govt vp of basketball operations.
Dumars, 61, takes over for David Griffin, who was fired on Monday after a six-year stint that coincided with the drafting of energy ahead Zion Williamson in 2019.
“I have a great deal of respect for what Joe has already accomplished as a player and executive, but more importantly, I admire his character and leadership,” Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, who also owns the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, said in a written statement coinciding with Wednesday’s announcement. “His vast experience and relationships throughout the NBA, along with his strong leadership qualities, will have a tremendous impact on our organization.”
Dumars’ choice to hitch the Pelicans represents a homecoming of types. He grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and performed faculty basketball for McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
“This is truly a full circle moment,” Dumars stated in a written assertion launched by the Pelicans. “I grew up as a Saints fan and the first AAU basketball team I played on at 16 years old was based in New Orleans, so this opportunity is very special to me on a personal level.”
Dumars’ first order of enterprise shall be to determine whether or not to retain coach Willie Inexperienced, who has a yr remaining on his contract. Subsequent, he’ll must determine whether or not the Pelicans proceed to construct across the injury-plagued Williamson — who has missed extra video games than he’s performed — or deal him elsewhere and transfer in a brand new route.
When he performs, the 6-foot-6, 284-pound Williamson has been as dazzling and productive as anticipated when he was drafted first total out of Duke. He has averaged 24.7 factors in 214 video games. However accidents have sidelined him for 258 common season video games, in addition to each postseason contest New Orleans has performed since he was drafted.
“There’s a number of expertise on this roster,” Dumars said. “My imaginative and prescient is to construct a disciplined workforce that’s constructed on toughness, good decision-making and a no-excuses mindset.
“I am proud to have grown up in Louisiana and know how passionate, resilient and tough we are as a community,” Dumars added. “These traits would be the basis of our workforce’s tradition.”
Dumars performed guard for the Detroit groups that gained NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. He additionally ran the Pistons’ entrance workplace once they gained one other title in 2004. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2006.
Since leaving the Pistons in 2014, Dumars has labored in Sacramento’s entrance workplace and most just lately served as govt vp and head of basketball operations for the NBA. The NBA’s sportsmanship award bears his identify.
“Joe was someone I was very familiar with, having dealt with him over the past few years at league meetings,” Benson stated. “My decision today was not hastily made, and not without spending valuable time talking to players, coaches and league officials.”
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