Zion’s health and 3 other takeaways from Pelicans Media Day
By Mat Issa
2. Changes to the team’s medical staff and updates on Larry Nance Jr. and Jose Alvarado.
Listen, while Williamson has a questionable medical history, he wasn’t the only one dealing with injuries last year. Brandon Ingram missed 37 games, Jose Alvarado missed 21, Larry Nance Jr. missed 17, and Herbert Jones missed 16.
As a result, the Pelicans decided to shake things up with their medical staff. Aaron Nelson, the person who was in charge of the team’s medical staff for the last four years, has been moved to a special advisor role. Meanwhile, Amy Atmore has been hired to be the director of rehabilitation.
During media day, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin mentioned that there would also be a change in the power structure of the medical staff – relocating power from one person to multiple individuals.
Griff says part of what went into the decision to change the medical staff was end of year meetings with players.
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 2, 2023
Says the collective staff will have more responsibility as opposed to one person having a lot power as it was in the past
Speaking of Nance and Alvarado, both of them have been dealing with some injuries as we get ready to start the preseason. Trajan Langdon, the Pelicans’ General Manager, gave us some good news on their status – stating that he expects both of them to be ready for the start of the regular season. Nance also mentioned to the media that he currently feels really good.
With that said, even with all they’ve done to improve their medical staff, New Orleans won’t be starting the season fully healthy, as Trey Murphy III will miss (at least) the first month of the regular season.
Overall, the Pelicans finished third in the league in man games lost last year – trailing only the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.