New Orleans Pelicans: Who’s the franchise’s worst player?
The New Orleans Pelicans have had their fair share of bad players in franchise history. The team has a 704-818 record in their current incarnation and has finished last in the division 5 times since 2002. It had me thinking, who is the worst player in the franchise’s history?
I looked at how bad the player was exclusive during his tenure with the Pelicans. After crunching the numbers, there were some great candidates. My criteria were who made the smallest amount of impact when they were with the team. One player stood out above all the rest, Josh Childress.
Why is Josh Childress the worst player in New Orleans Pelicans history?
On November 13th, 2013, the Pelicans signed journeyman wing Josh Childress to a contract. After taking an NBA hiatus to play in Greece, Childress was struggling to get back to form. He had failed to make the Washington Wizards final roster but was saught as a flier depth addition to the young Pelicans squad.
To say he was forgettable during his run in New Orleans would be an understatement. I think it’s important to note that there was not a single picture on the FanSided database of Childress in a Pelicans jersey. Furthermore, there are only two images of him in a Pels jersey at all on Google images.
Surely, the team photographers just weren’t focusing enough on the former lottery pick – he couldn’t have been that bad, right? You would be surprised.
He was on the roster for only 13 games, recieving a “DNP” in 9 of them. In the 4 games he did play, Childress tallied just under 24 minutes. During that entire stretch, he never scored a single point. He’s the only player in Pelicans history to play in at least four games and not score a single point. He didn’t even attempt a shot! Nate Robinson, arguably the runner-up for this award, is the only other Pelican to play at least 20 minutes and not record a single point in their tenure with the team.
He never recorded more than a 1 of any stat, which is almost unbelievable. Childress chipped in with a negative win share, a negative box plus/minus, and a value over replacement of exactly 0.
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His impact was so minuscule that it might’ve been lost for history if this article topic hadn’t popped in my head. Josh Childreses’ achievement of being the worst New Orleans Pelicans player ever will be hard to top and might be a distinction he possesses for a long time.