Starr thought Willie Green was ‘standing up’, but it wasn’t Zion Williamson
Recently, the New Orleans Pelicans fired head coach Willie Green amid their disastrous 2-11 start to the 2025-26 NBA season. The pelicans have entered this season with pressure after trading away their first-round pick last June, and so far, it looks like they may have given up a potentially extremely valuable asset.
Now reports are surfacing about Green dynamic with some of his players in the locker room.
“Green’s messaging also became outdated as the Pelicans progressed Trey Murphy III after playing for Green his entire coaching tenure with the Pelicans, league sources added. In addition, some players and members of the organization felt that Green did not last Zion Williamson responsible enough during his coaching tenure, sources said,” Hoopshape’s Michael Scotto reported.
Murphy III got off to a bit of a rough start this season after a breakout year in 2024-25, but has rebounded a bit since then. Meanwhile, Williamson was in and out of the lineup due to injury, which of course became a familiar theme during his tenure in New Orleans.
All in all, it remains to be seen who the Pelicans will hire to be their long-term coach. As of now, the interim position is occupied by James Borrego, who was previously a head coach in the NBA. As mentioned earlier, the Pelicans traded their 2026 pick with the Bucks to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the right to move up and draft Derrick Quinn this past draft, so New Orleans really can’t afford to be anywhere near as bad as it is right now.
At 2-11, it’s very hard to imagine the Pelicans getting back into the mix in a crowded Western Conference playoff picture, and things don’t get any easier on Monday night when they host the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. That game will begin at 8:00 PM ET.
2025-11-17 21:12:00
