New Orleans Pelicans: Why are the Pels so dysfunctional?

It seems like not a day goes by where there isn’t a new rumor or some type of drama surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans.

Last season it was all about Lonzo Ball, and the Pels played the “will they, won’t they” game until eventually orchestrating a sign-and-trade with the Bulls for little return.

David Griffin blew that one, as he should have traded Lonzo the second he realized he didn’t want to pay him $20 million a season.

We’ve also heard myriad rumors about Zion Williamson, how his family was upset with the way the New Orleans Pelicans handled his injuries and how he might be looking to change teams.

The Pelicans aren’t trading Zion Williamson, at least not yet, but the drama didn’t stop there.

Yesterday, Christian Clark of NOLA.com (subscription required) dropped a bombshell report that detailed the strained (and weird) relationship between David Griffin and Zion Williamson that at one point included Griffin playing the piano for Zion in his hotel.

Pelicans fans are left wondering when this nonsense is going to end, as we were looking forward to the season and new roster that brings increased hope for the playoffs.

So why are the Pelicans so dysfunctional?

New Orleans Pelicans: Superstars in small markets bring drama

The New Orleans Pelicans are a small-market team that is now on their 3rd superstar. First it was Chris Paul, then Anthony Davis and now Zion Williamson. The Pels have been super lucky in the draft to get these players but as soon as they arrived, the drama followed behind.

Paul and Davis essentially forced their way to other teams, and in both cases, more or less held the franchise hostage for a whole season to do so.

Davis whined and faked injuries until the Pels eventually granted his request and traded him to the Lakers.

This is the reason fans (and hopefully the front office) are so worried about Zion, as we’ve watched other stars leave before so are just waiting to hear the bad news like jilted lovers who keep getting dumped.

Part of this is the mentality that New Orleans is not “good enough” to keep a star, which is ridiculous as it is one the coolest cities in the world, but this nonsense is perpetuated by national media who can’t just leave New Orleans alone and let them have their star for once.

Some of this is Griffin’s fault, as he has done an abysmal job of explaining his “plan” for how he’s building this team, which has left a massive silence that the media is going to fill one way or another.

Griffin needs to stop being so cagey, drop his stupid novels and piano playing and just be straight forward with the fans and media to put all of this talk to rest.

Until he does that, the Pelicans are going to be on the front pages for all of the wrong reasons as we count down the days until Zion Williamson is traded and we start this whole process again.

Frankly, this dysfunction is getting exhausting.