New Orleans Pelicans: The 3 best quotes from media day

Media day makes for a lot of headlines, but some select members of the New Orleans Pelicans organization dropped some very interesting comments.

The New Orleans Pelicans rolled out a lot of new pieces for the first time at media day, which made for some fascinating lines.

Yesterday was media day for most teams in the NBA, which formally begins the basketball nerd’s quest for quotes, storylines, and the overall vibe relating to the upcoming season.

Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin, in particular, seems very excited about the rebuilt New Orleans roster put together by the team’s front office.

Entering the 2019-2020 NBA season, a year where the league’s rosters have totally reshaken, for the most part, we really don’t have a title favorite or even a clear two-or-three team race. Instead, it’s a year where just about any team can make noise, go on a run, and shake up everything.

Could these sorts of conditions allow the New Orleans Pelicans to be even more surprising than just an eight-seed roll-over in the West?

If we learned anything from media day, this team wants to be competitive at the very least, which makes roll-over status very unappealing to fans. However, if they’re to believe what they heard from David Griffin, Zion Williamson, Alvin Gentry, and company, this squad is going to be incredibly feisty this year.

While sentiments are great, it’s interesting to think about the quotes for media day themselves; some were funny, some were optimistic, some were exciting. However, here are a few that New Orleans Pelicans fans might find the most riveting.

“They didn’t put us on national TV 30 times to take a beating” ~ David Griffin

This season, the New Orleans Pelicans are going to be something of a media spectacle.

It wasn’t enough to just have the most-hyped first overall pick since LeBron James. They traded for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Derrick Favors. Then, they added J.J. Redick. Plus, they have Jrue Holiday. It’s an embarrassment of riches.

The Pelicans don’t expect championship glory in the first year of their rebuild, but at the very least, there’s an expectation that this team will be competitive.

David Griffin has a point. If it was the spectacle alone, that would be one thing, but this team has enough talent to keep it close, if not win, every night.

Considering the medium of national television, it’s important to remember that usually when you’re playing on ESPN, TNT, etc., you’re going to be playing really good teams. Getting smacked over and over again by the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, or Golden State Warriors is more thoroughly disappointing when the whole country is watching.

When the team opens the season against the Toronto Raptors, they’re already playing on TNT, so the spotlight starts early for this young roster. In fact, three of their first four games are going to be on national television.

It’s pretty clear that the team will lean on Holiday and Williamson in big spots this season. The very well could be one of the best big-twos in the league if Zion excels early and often.

For the New Orleans Pelicans, this means they need to come together as a unit, so they can start playing solid, team-oriented basketball early in their 2019-2020 campaign. Otherwise, it might be a longer season than anyone anticipated.

“Don’t f$%# this up for me” ~ J.J. Redick

Making it into the NBA Playoffs in each of his 13 seasons so far, J.J. Redick made it clear (mostly jokingly) that he expects to make it 14 this year.

While Redick truly said it as a joke and it seems Zion understood the veteran’s sense of humor, it’s a prophesy the Pelicans players should be interested in fulfilling.

Keeping Redick’s playoff streak active would be a huge accomplishment not only for the player himself but what that means as a reflection on the team.

After a season where he averaged 18.1 points, 2.7 assists, and shot 39.7% from three-point range as a member of Philadelphia 76ers, Redick clearly has plenty of basketball left in the tank. Even though he turned 35-years-old over the summer, fans shouldn’t expect too much of a drop-off, if any, from the sharpshooting veteran.

If this team can get Redick into the playoffs again, it’s a testament to the veterans on this team and the coaching staff who need to find a way to bring along their young talents.

Redick did join a team that finished 33-49 and in 13th place in the Western Conference last season. While it’s a fully reloaded roster, they’ll really need to make a leap from top to bottom if they want to compete in a stacked West.

“If you’re on a team who has good veterans and you don’t listen to good veterans, you’re not going to do well in this league.” ~ Josh Hart

There is simply so much new on the New Orleans Pelicans roster this season, as 12-of-18 players on the training camp roster weren’t on this squad even four months ago, including Josh Hart.

Learning from and listening to veterans has to be a requirement for such a young roster. Not that any of these players are shying away from that notion, it just can’t be stated with enough severity.

Hart is old for his status. He’s entering his third year in the NBA but is already 24-years-old, as he played out his full four years of college eligibility at Villanova. Due to the culture Jay Wright established for his Wildcats, Hart had exposure to older, talented players who could guide him throughout his college career.

Many players on this roster were one-and-done guys in college and simply need experienced athletes to make sure they’re doing what it takes to excel at this level.

Considering they have crafty veteran leaders like Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick and Derrick Favors, the players should be excited about the opportunity to learn from such high-caliber talents. Any apprehension of embracing their leadership is simply irresponsible to the organization.

Hart was on the money with his comment, and it’s likely that this group of Pelicans feel the same way; there’s a great attitude about this team, which is something clearly different from the shadow cast over this franchise a season ago.