Joe Dumars addresses dismissal of Willie Green | New Orleans Pelicans

Joe Dumars addresses dismissal of Willie Green | New Orleans Pelicans

Hey, good morning everyone. Um, first of all, I want to open up and just say, um, I have a great amount of respect for, uh, Willie Green as a person, as a coach. Um, but I also understand this is a tough business and tough decisions have to be made. Um, we have, uh, faith in James Morgo as the interim coach. Uh, James been here for, I think, three years now. um has sat in the head coaching seat before in the NBA uh and understands the job. So, we have great uh faith and confidence um in James going forward. Um listen, at the end of the day, guys, uh we’re all professionals. Um we all have a responsibility to show up and perform in this business. Um and that’s what we’re going to keep doing here. We’re going to lean in uh to establishing who we want to be here. Uh and that’s really what this is all about. Um taking responsibility, accountability, uh and not shying away from it. And so that’s what um we want to do here. And uh that’s really what went into the decision uh to to continue to lean into who we want to be here. And u so with that guys, I I just wanted to kind of make that statement and then open it up to questions from each and every one of you. No problem. Hey Joe, one of the things you you kind of talked about was that how you wanted this team to play hard and kind of represent the city. Was it uh more of a factor of how the team was playing or was it just strictly, you know, the one loss record? So um good question. Um so Rod, it really wasn’t the uh one loss record as the ultimate determining factor. That was not it. Um, I was very clear from the very beginning. Uh, there was no mandate that you have to win a certain amount of games. Uh, there wasn’t even a mandate that, oh, you have to make the playin or the playoffs. It was we have to establish who we’re going to be here in New Orleans going forward. And I just did not see that happening. Um, and that was more than anything else, Rod, was a determining factor here. Okay. And I got one followup on that. Um, I think I just went blank on it, but it’ll come back to you. All right. You you can um you can um Oh, here it is. Yeah. Miss Benson yesterday, she talked about how the um she thought that this team was built to win now and um after watching 12 games, is that kind of do you like the roster that you’ve seen? And do you think this team can win now? I um will stand on what I’ve been saying since I got here, Rod. I’m I’m not uh judging this on wins and losses right now. I’m judging this on establishing who we’re going to be going forward. That was what I said from the beginning. That was the basis for this decision. And so, uh that more than the wins and losses for me right now, Rod, is the number one factor. I did not see us establishing anything in terms of an identity of who we’re going to be. That that more than anything else is why Thanks, Joe. Okay. Hey, Joe, this is a Will. Uh, now you talked all summer about, you know, what type of roster you want to build and what you want it to look like. Uh, now that you’re going to be hiring the next coach here, what kind of traits are you looking for uh in the next co head coach for the Pelicans? So, um, well, it’s really, um, someone that’s going to really embrace establishing exactly who we want to be here. Um, listen, when that becomes the the reason that you make a move like this, uh, that also becomes, um, the kind of litmus test for the next coach of like, can we build an identity here? And so, um, that’s really what I’m going to be looking for, Will, is, uh, a coach that’s really going to build an identity here and and and that’s what’s going to go into the decision. Obviously, you want someone smart. You want someone who can communicate. You want you want all the things. Uh, but more than anything else, we have to build an identity here in New Orleans. Do you have an idea of what you want that identity to be? Well, I think the coach and you sit down. You don’t just make it in a vacuum. That’s why you sit, you interview, you talk to coaches, and you collaborate on this. So, um, look, there are some staples to winning, Will. Uh, you you got to be tough, resilient, you got to be able to defend. Uh, you got to be able to have enough offense. But when you start talking about building identity, that’s always collaborative with uh the coach. Um, you just don’t make that decision yourself and then hire a coach and say, “Here’s your identity. Go out and do it.” Like that, you know, just not how it works. Uh hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey Joe John Sakalof over here. Um you I know you talked about uh James and we’ve seen what he’s done in Charlotte I think he’s led them to their only above 500 season in Charlotte in the last nine years. Did his how much has his, you know, success previously as a head coach kind of factored into you being comfortable making this decision and kind of giving him the keys? The first time I talked to James about this position that he’s in right now was this morning about 9:15 a.m. You can’t do it that way. You can’t have like So, you can’t sit in this seat that I’m sitting in and have one foot in and one foot out. Like I’m all in with the head coach and with Willie. I’m all in with him. I wasn’t at all and I can tell you this at all thinking about what Bargo did in Charlotte. It just you it’s a recipe of how not to do stuff. And so uh that wasn’t a factor for me. Um because I as I said to Willie, man, I’m all in with you. And I told Willie that when I first got here, I told Willie that uh throughout the whole time that look, I’m always in with you. And so um and I was uh until we made the decision this morning. And then now it’s, you know, I I have to be allin to JB and to be fair to him and anybody that sits in that seat, man, you have to be fair to them and be allin with them. Hey Joe, thanks for doing this. Um, you talk about building identity and and this summer you talked about having Zion as your franchise player and the responsibilities that come with that. Does a change in coaching um mean a shift in this philosophy? Are you still committed to that being a part of your identity moving forward? So, so I also said that you want to build a team that hasn’t that doesn’t have to depend on one player as well. And so, uh, I don’t want to leave that part out and just car out about Zion. uh that’s not going to change with me. Like you don’t want to build a team that depends on just one one player. And so um I think what I really emphasize, you know, in getting here is like team like I’m a team first guy. Yes, we have a an incredible talent in Zion, but that’s not how the team is built and that’s not going to be a factor uh as we go forward. I you know we we’re we’re going to continue to be team first. Um and whoever the next coach is, you know, I’m going to want that coach to believe in the same thing in team first. And so this this I don’t think um the question about Zion uh will apply to this right here. What you’re what you’re asking. Um it’s it’s it’s as long as I’m here, it’s going to be about team first. Uh hey Joe, this is Fletcher. I have two questions. I’ll just ask them at the same time. First, um, do do you have a message for the fans? It seems like apathy is is skyrocketing that I think people feel like it’s the same old same old Zion’s hurt and and the frustration with Willie. So, if there’s a message for the the fans that are going to see this. And the second thing is is I know the NBA can be kind of crazy. You know, Doc Rivers was on the street and the Bucks hired him in January and like Chris Finch was an assistant with the Raptors and then the head coach of Minnesota. Is Barago the head coach for the rest of the year or could something develop where you find a head coach before then? Yeah. Um, so in terms of the apathy question, um, I’m not sure what all has gone on before I got here, Fletcher. I I don’t really know um what’s happened. Um, I know that we are not uh the people that have come in with me, we’re not status quo people. We’re just not um and that’s not to say anything about what’s happened in the past because I don’t really know. I just know our approach is not to be status quo. We look at it, we see it, it’s not getting better. Okay, we have to we have to make a move. We can’t sit on our hands and we can’t sit here and go. Uh well, it’s going to get better uh one day. Like that’s just not the way we’re going to approach it. And so in terms of the apathy, I the only thing I could say to the fans and and media here in New Orleans is that status quo is is is never going to be acceptable. It’s just not. And and uh and I’m matter of fact about it because it’s not like I have to think hard about this. It’s just who we are. We we we’re not going to operate like that. Just in terms of um Bergo, yeah, he’s the interim coach here for the rest, you know, for the rest of the season, unless something changed. I don’t I don’t know what would change, but uh our plan is to go forward with uh with James. Uh if something was to change in that, Fletcher, I you know, that’s the unforeseen. I can’t sit here and tell you nothing unforeseen could happen, but when I spoke with James this morning, I I said to him, you know, I’d like for you to be the interim coach for the rest of the season. So, u that’s as honest and direct as I can answer the question, Fletcher. Um and and really that’s it. Um hopefully he’s here for the rest of the season. Uh and and we can get things turned around. Hi Joe, Matty Kurt with Fox 8 here. You know, even through this transitional time, more than ever, you’ve got a lot of eyes on the Pelicans, especially with the team’s partnership with the G Coast Sports and Entertainment Network. So in these next couple games when fans are tuning in to see this shakeup, what do you anticipate they will see differently? And can you speak to any pressures that the team or uh anybody on the operation side feels knowing that more people are watching? Now, I I could tell you a long story that I had with Artha Franklin one day, but that’s a different story. Um uh but I will say this about this story and um um Artha was my neighbor in Detroit, right? And I asked her one time, “What if you went out and there was only a handful of people watching?” And she said, “Jo D, I would give the show of of of all shows for however many people are watching.” I would say the same thing about us. Whether it’s a small amount, whether it’s a larger amount, doesn’t change our approach in how we do business. I don’t care if it’s if if it’s a thousand people or 20,000 people. Our approach is to be allin to win, dedicated. Like, we’re obsessed with this. And so, um, more people watching. Awesome. But it really doesn’t change how we do business here. I look forward to hearing that full story one day, coach. Thank you. Yeah, that’s a that’s a deep story with Artha. I have to tell you that one day. Um, hi Mr. Dumars. This is Andrew Wellman with KSLA. Um, I have two questions for you. The first one being what are you kind of hoping to see from coach Berago in terms of his taking over leadership with the Pelicans whether it be the development of your young guys queen and theaters or just an improvement on the offensive side of the ball. And then kind of building on uh Mr. Mel’s question earlier talking about the fans a lot of fans have been kind of expressing some kind of a sense of hopelessness. The team doesn’t have their first round pick next year in a really great draft class and you know it was a rough start. You’re letting go of coach Green. What would your message of um to be to fans who are kind of just looking for something to kind of hope hope for and look forward to in the future? I I I’ll answer that. What was your first question again? Um what are you kind of hoping to see um change in the terms of the play from coach BGO, whether it be the development of your young players or just an improvement on the offensive side of the ball? Yeah, I I I’ll go back to what I said earlier. We have to establish who we’re going to be. We we we flat out have to establish who we’re going to be. whether that’s going to be uh improved offense, whether it’s going to be improved defense. Uh but we have to start establish establishing an identity here in New Orleans more than anything else. Uh we just can’t go out and just play go up and down and not have an identity. So I think more than anything else, uh that would be what I’m that would be what I would be looking for uh for us to try to establish here in terms of the uh uh I think you’re asking about the fans again. uh and about things going on here like look um I was saying this to Matt Ryan this morning like it’s pretty pretty tough to turn it around in 6 months and so we we’ve been here about six seven months and so this is part of the work this is part of the heavy lift that takes place uh you come in you know it’s going to be a heavy lift um and along the way there going to be some bumps along the way but like you can’t get like us any anyway uh I would say operations you can’t get uh depleted or down or whatever, discouraged uh when things don’t go as planned. And so that’s the hard work that we have to do here. Uh that’s what we’re going to continue to do here. And we know along the way there may be some bumps and some setbacks, but uh it really doesn’t it doesn’t affect you uh in the sense that you’re you’re going to stop doing what you do um to make this a great team, a great organization. And so I would just say that to the fans like like we are as committed and obsessed with this as as you can possibly be. Uh and we’re gonna we’re gonna do the work to turn it around. Thank you, Mr. D. You’re welcome. Yeah. How early do you guys plan on establishing what your list of candidates will be? You know, the interview process and all of that. And will uh James be one of the candidates you you guys interview to to uh potentially remove the interim tag and make him the head coach? We haven’t even discussed that yet this morning. It’s just James is the interim coach and we haven’t even started talking about any kind of candidate list will anything like that. Um it’s it’s a little bit premature right now to even start talking about other candidates right now. Let’s let’s get our footing right now. We just let the coach go this morning. We just named James as the inter room coach. Um, you know, we’ll have time to get to that, but today is not that day to do that. Um, I have another question. This is not Mr. Mackel, but Fletcher. Thank you, Andrew, for calling me Mr. Mel. Um, uh, just a a quick followup here. Um, I know that we talked about when you got hired the word mandates. Will there be a mandate to to start Queen or play queen or does James have kind of full authority to to to do what he wants to do with the roster or would you want to see the guys that you drafted to start this rebuild potentially playing more and being out there more? I uh Fletcher, I had that conversation James and I sat in my office this morning and I said to him, I’m going to support whatever you want to do. Like it’s your call. I’m not the coach. I’m never going to be the coach. I never want to be the coach. It’s your call, James. So, however you want to go with this, I’m gonna support you 100%. So, I made that very clear to him this morning. I’m sure he’ll say the same thing when he speaks with you guys. He He doesn’t have a mandate for me that you have to play this guy or that a minute, nothing. None of that. Do what you want to do. I I think it’s the only fair way you can evaluate a coach. I don’t think you can tell a coach what to do and then evaluate him on whether it works or not. you told him what to do and so he he’s got the full authority to do what he wants to do as a head coach. Hey Joe, I I know you pride yourself in being open and honest, especially with players. Uh were you able to discuss with players over the summer and you know the early stages of this season um on how the season was going and did any of that feedback play into your decision to make the coaching change? No, I I’ve lived long enough to know not to go into those conversations. Listen, when you’re a player, let me tell you something. It’s so um it is so granular with players. Tell you what happens. You can get a player to have a great week and you talk to him and he is um he is all in on everything, right? Have a tough week the next week and everything is horrible. So, you got to be careful talking to players. uh when it comes to things about the season. You have to sit there and judge. Um when I talk to players, it’s really about here’s I think where you can get better. Here’s what I see happening. Guys will come up to me and ask me what do you see? I’ll have those conversations with them just about them improving, but the overall um yeah, you you you really want to stay away from that. [Music] Joe, um, considering, you know, the the start and whatnot, you’ve been very clear on your mentality w with the team and all that good stuff, but, uh, you know, considering obviously, you know, next year and not having the first round pick, is there any level kind of of concern following the start due to, uh, not having the pick for for next season? Your question is, what now? Is there a level of concern? Yeah. Um, no. We don’t have the pick, so there’s no sense of me being concerned about it now. It’s it’s done. And um, no, there really isn’t. I mean, I can sit there and have a concern all I want, but we still don’t have a pick. And so, no, there’s not any level concern. I’m I’m concerned about uh the guys that we have here. I’m concerned about the guys we drafted and watching them grow and become the players that come, but I I I’m not sitting here worried about the pick that that we don’t have. Hey Joe, it’s uh Brett Martell with AP. Um just two real quick ones here. First is and I know it’s tough when you come in new to a situation that’s uh evolving. Could you just reflect on why you thought over the offseason it was the right decision to at least start the season with Willie? And then the second is when you say identity, um you know, obviously that’s a ter a term that’s open to interpretation. And so could you maybe give some examples of of why you saw a lack of identity I guess in the first 12 games? Um first question is why Willie was it? Yeah. Why during the offseason did you decide that it was it was the right choice to start the season with Willie? I had I I’d seen some of the Pelicans um when they were um fully healthy a few years ago and it it seemed that Willie was doing a good job. I I thought it was only fair to give him an opportunity um going forward. As I said to Willie when I got here, I was like, Willie, look, I do not have um someone else in in in the wings waiting. uh you’re the guy that I’m committing to to do this. I’m all in with you and and let’s move forward and try to like turn this thing around into something great. And so it was just as simple as he’s been here, give him a chance to uh get a fresh start with me and go forward and and build. Uh in terms of the identity, uh I I’ll just I’ll repeat it again. I was looking for a team to compete hard every night and so we start losing the same way over and over again. Um and so that’s not improvement. And so more so than identity, um that was really the one thing that I talked to the coaching staff about is that guys, we have to establish that we’re going to play hard every night. Before you can become anything in this league, you have to establish that first as a team. And so it was that judgment more than identity, more than the offense, more than the defense, the one loss record. It’s establishing that we are going to be a team that plays hard every night. And and that’s still uh what I’m looking for right now. Uh and I had that conversation with James this morning. Yeah. Joe, obviously uh Jeremiah and Derek are a huge part of your future. What What are your thoughts on just what those guys have looked like uh early in the season? Yeah, I they they’ve looked well, you know, they they they’re growing. Um you I watch them play and what I see is every night I kind of see something new happens for them and you realize they’re they’re growing every night. Uh look, these guys are what, 12 games into their careers and so uh I’m I’m pleased with where they are right now. Uh but I also know these guys got a lot more growing to do. But I I I would be wrong if I I sat here and say I wasn’t uh pleased with how they’ve started off. They they’ve looked well. Uh they look like we thought they were going to look. And uh hopefully we can really help uh those guys continue to grow uh into the players that they’re going to be one day.

Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars speaks with the media following the dismissal of head coach Willie Green and James Borrego stepping into the role of interim head coach.
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