With the New Orleans Pelicans being one of three teams to have their media day today, the hype for the 2025-26 season couldn't be higher. One of the main reasons for the hype surrounding the Pelicans' upcoming campaign is the exciting young talent they brought in during the 2025 NBA draft, specifically Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears.
Fears is a twitchy, fast, explosive guard who plays with an unwavering swagger and can get you a bucket whenever you need it. While he does have his fair share of flaws, as his decision-making isn't great and his outside shot still needs a ton of work, the sky is the limit for the 18-year-old former freshman phenom.
His sky-high potential was one of the main reasons Pelicans President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars decided to take Fear's 7th overall. One of the other reasons Dumars had such high belief in him was his unreal work ethic, which is something he continued to praise during his preseason press conference.
"Fears is like that. We had to stop him from coming into the gym for a while. His legs were getting so sore. I know youre 18 but you have to rest. He is working out super hard in the morning and coming back at night"
"Fears is like that. We had to stop him from coming into the gym for a while. His legs were getting so sore. I know youre 18 but you have to rest. He is working out super hard in the morning and coming back at night"
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) September 22, 2025
-- Joe Dumars on players obsessed with the game pic.twitter.com/35hw6JxkfJ
To hear that Fears is already logging tons of hours in the gym every day, trying to perfect his craft even before his rookie season officially gets underway, is a positive sign and step in the direction of greatness. We've seen in not just the world of sports but life in general that obsession beats talent every single time. Although Fears has a ton of pure talent, his work ethic could be the thing that separates him from the rest of his draft class.
Fears may be more ready than we all expected
After a disappointing summer league that saw Fears average 5.0 turnovers per game and shoot 40 percent from the field, I expected him to enter the regular season extremely raw. However, after hearing these comments from Dumars, it may be the exact opposite of that.
If Fears was really locking himself in the gym and spending as much time training as Dumars led us to believe, then he definitely has improved his efficiency and his decision-making as a playmaker. With both of these things improved, he may be more ready than any of us initially expected him to be in his rookie season.
These improvements also open the door for Fears to step into a much bigger role in New Orleans' second unit.
While Fears has adopted the nickname "zero fears," if Joe Dumars' recent comments are true, then he's also embodying the saying "zero days off" too.