New Orleans Pelicans' Ongoing Struggles & Management Issues

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00:00The way they run it is a disaster.

00:03And then they fired Griffin today.

00:04What is going on with their NBA team down there?

00:08Because I think it's like almost like on fire.

00:13The Pelicans are in a perpetual state of malaise.

00:17You know, it's just – and I think you're right in the sense that, you know,

00:22what direction is this team going in?

00:25The six years of David Griffin were ultimately a failure.

00:28The hope and optimism that came with the drafting of Zion Williamson,

00:32all of that is gone now.

00:34And I think that there are – the organization, the fan base,

00:37everyone is just incredibly divided on what the next step should be

00:41because this team has never charted a clear course.

00:44And you could say that's been the story for the entirety of the Benson regime.

00:49Since they've taken over, this team has only won one playoff series.

00:54Since this team has been in New Orleans, they've won a grand total of two playoff series.

00:57And, yes, they've squandered some of the best players that you possibly could name.

01:03When you talk about giving up on Chris Paul so early in his career,

01:06he's played twice as long the rest of his career in other places than he did in New Orleans.

01:11But New Orleans has never been as successful as it was with him.

01:14To watch Anthony Davis go and win a championship, to watch Drew Holiday,

01:18to win two championships in other places.

01:20Even J.J. Redick, who was a player in New Orleans,

01:22going on and being a successful head coach somewhere else.

01:25Look at him.

01:26It's just – it's so frustrating.

01:29And it's kind of like – and the interest – the arena is bad.

01:35The interest is waning.

01:36There just needs to be an injection of life and energy and hope

01:40because this is kind of like what the Clippers were from the 80s through almost 2000.

01:46You know, when it's just – they were constantly getting number one picks.

01:49They were – occasionally they would make the playoffs,

01:51like when they had that team with Doc Rivers and Ron Harper and stuff like that.

01:54And you would think they were going to get out of it.

01:56But the Clippers were going to be the Clippers.

01:58And I think that, you know, that's what the Pelicans are,

02:00is that people just expect no matter what advantages that you give the New Orleans Pelicans,

02:05they will find a way to squander it.

02:06So, listen, I'm down there, right?

02:08And I'm chilling the most.

02:09And I swear to God, I said this.

02:12We were in the van, like, I don't know, going whatever.

02:16Mafia may have been with me or not.

02:19I said, listen, this team – we drove out of the arena and went,

02:22man, no one even cares about this team.

02:25I go, like, all people care about here is eating and going out and good music

02:30and eating and getting effed up.

02:32There is no one that wants to go to those games.

02:36Their franchise is dead in the water.

02:38You might as well be in the middle of the Mississippi drowning.

02:40I think it's in trouble.

02:42Like, I legitimately think they're in trouble.

02:45Like, there are a lot of cities that want NBA teams.

02:48And I think, respectfully, because I really like your town,

02:52I think it – I've been there for a lot.

02:54I've been there for a lot of Super Bowls.

02:56I've been there for a lot of NCAA basketball championships.

02:58The favorite of mine, Indiana, beating Syracuse in 87,

03:01the last game I ever covered for Bob Knight.

03:03I love New Orleans.

03:05But I think they got a problem.

03:07I really do.

03:08I said to Mafia Redunner, I go,

03:09there's no reason for this franchise to be here anymore.

03:12It's dead.

03:13It's dead.

03:15And I think that the foot of that falls mostly at what the ownership has been.

03:19You know, I remember when this team moved here,

03:21George Shin, who's one of the worst owners in NBA history,

03:25really did a horrible job insulting the ground,

03:28just kind of burning bridges with people.

03:31He made no friends locally.

03:33Then the league goes into – the team goes into receivership,

03:35where the league owns them for a couple of years.

03:37And then you sell to the Bensons on the cheap because they were the only people locally

03:41who kind of had any money.

03:43And they've not really treated this team the way it should be.

03:46You know, they've been, as has been reported plenty of times,

03:51treated as the stepchild to the New Orleans Saints.

03:53This is a community at a state that has a rich basketball history.

03:59Louisiana has one of the best basketball histories you could look at.

04:02And yet, there has never been a sustained success for basketball.

04:07Whether you talk about the New Orleans Jazz,

04:09they were never treated properly while here, playing in the cavernous Superdome

04:13or playing in, you know, ballrooms and things like that.

04:16They weren't treated properly.

04:18So, they leave and go to Utah where they've had success by and large.

04:22Now, with the Pelicans slash Hornets, again, bad ownership, bad leadership, bad decisions.

04:28I can tell you that I've heard from some fans who have said,

04:32maybe we just don't do basketball well professionally.

04:36I've even had people say, could we trade the basketball team for a hockey team?

04:39This is New Orleans.

04:41And people are asking about a hockey team.

04:44That's how bad it's gotten.

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