Pelicans: The Stan Van Gundy-Jrue Holiday relationship will lead 2021

A developing relationship between Stan Van Gundy and Jrue Holiday will give the New Orleans Pelicans leadership in 2021

What was missing all last season for the New Orleans Pelicans? I’m sure you could say many answers, but chief among them would be leadership. The Pelicans simply lacked the leadership needed to instill the qualities needed to be a playoff team in the NBA.

That’s a big reason why the team hired Stan Van Gundy because when looking back to last season, Alvin Gentry was a major proponent of the leadership problem. Instead of being a vocal coach demanding discipline on the court, Gentry was a passive teacher who tried to relate to his young players. A great sentiment, but one that doesn’t win games in the NBA.

With Stan Van Gundy at the helm, the Pelicans now have a coach who is a teacher and mentor but also a disciplinarian too. He’s going to demand things out of the young roster and push them to reach their heights rather than just sit back.

When thinking about this, I think Van Gundy’s hiring is also a great way for the organization to enhance the leadership of some of their players too, namely Jrue Holiday.

Why a Jrue Holiday-Stan Van Gundy leadership pact will form for the New Orleans Pelicans next season

It’s clear watching the Pelicans last season that Holiday tried being the vocal leader of the team, but he didn’t want to undermine Gentry. With Van Gundy at the helm, Holiday won’t have to worry about undermining his coach, because his coach now expects accountability.

That expected accountability could be what forms a strong relationship between Jrue Holiday and his new head coach. If you’re asking me, I expect that relationship to lead the New Orleans Pelicans next season.

Why? It’s pretty clear. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson just aren’t mature enough to lead, not yet. Jrue Holiday is though, and if the New Orleans Pelicans want to make the playoffs then they’ll need a leader.

I trust that Stan Van Gundy recognized this, and that’s part of the reason why he won the job. Van Gundy will lead on the sidelines and in practice, we know that, but he’ll also trust Holiday to be the leader on the court.

How will he trust Holiday to lead on the court? Maybe instead of exclusively using Lonzo Ball, Van Gundy uses Holiday as a ball-handler more than the Pelicans did last season. I think it’s also possible that the team has Holiday calling out signals on the court as a de facto coach.

That creates the perfect relationship of leadership for the Pelicans going into next season. Two established voices, who from the start are clearly put ahead of the team’s young stars. This way the youth of this team grows and becomes more mature before taking the reigns of the team.

This is exactly what the team needs to be successful because it’s what David Griffin hoped would happen with Gentry and Holiday but didn’t. This is the missing ingredient, the combination of a strong coach with Jrue Holiday who will lead the Pelicans on a successful playoff run before handing it off to the team’s young core for what the organization hopes is the next great era of basketball in New Orleans.