New Orleans Pelicans: The 5 biggest takeaways from media day
By Willie Lutz
Zion Williamson and Jrue Holiday are “the guys” in the organization’s eyes
Time and time again, members of the New Orleans Pelicans were asked questions about two guys, Zion Williamson and Jrue Holiday. Further, the two names that kept being mentioned by David Griffin and Alvin Gentry were Jrue and Zion.
Holiday and Williamson are in two different phases of their career, that’s a given.
“He’s just a pure, genuine person,” Frank Jackson said of Zion. “He’s fun, he’s cool, he’s a normal kid. It’s been a pleasure to hang out with him for this last little bit.”
“It’s a rare maturity for a 19-year-old,” said rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker, just 21-years-old himself. “He’ll say stuff and I’ll be like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even think about it that way.'”
On the expectations of his star rookie, Alvin Gentry said, “Zion isn’t here to save our franchise. We aren’t asking him to put on a cape & save our franchise. He just wants Zion to get better day by day”
While Zion is growing, another New Orleans Pelicans player is just now finding his voice.
This year, it seems Holiday will be trusted to be the leading force on the remade New Orleans Pelicans roster.
Alexander-Walker said, “Jrue makes it look so easy because he doesn’t do too much.”
J.J.Redick said he and Holiday discussed the prospect of playing together prior to the offseason. While Redick was initially interested in returning to the Philadelphia 76ers, it was his enthusiasm for joining forces with Holiday, in addition to a lot of talent around the roster, which eventually drove him to New Orleans.
When VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin spoke on Holiday, he compared his leap to Steve Nash, saying, “leadership sometimes takes a while for people to become comfortable,” while pointing out that Jrue is someone who often keeps quiet and lets his actions talk.
Between the two, they’re driving a pretty strong hyper factory. Their teammates consistently sang their praise as reporters asked about the two players time and time again.