Why Willie Green’s firing from New Orleans left Skip Bayless ‘stunned’
With news about The New Orleans Pelicans are firing head coach Willie Green after a frustrating start to the season, there’s no doubt the basketball world had plenty of different opinions about it. How fans predict who will The Pelicans will hire to replace Green, one person who was shocked by the news was a sports analyst Skip Bailess.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday afternoon, Bayless expressed how shocked he was to see New Orleans release Green, especially with injuries to Zion Williamson, Dejonte Murray and Jordan Poole. Bayless would even go so far as to say he would “don’t be surprised” at least if Green goes on to win a championship as a coach with another team.
“Stupid Willie Green fired with Zion/Dejounte/Poole injury,” Bayless wrote. “I won’t be surprised if he becomes a championship coach somewhere else – he’s that good. Maybe he just needed a fresh start. Joe Dumars took over as GM – big respect for him too. Joe needs His guy. Maybe (James) Borrego.”
Pelicans’ Joe Dumars on Willie Green’s firing
As Green’s fate rested in the hands of the Pelicans’ executive vice president of Joe Dumars’ basketball operations, he would ultimately decide to move on, as James Borrego is expected to be the interim head coach until the end of the season. Speaking of the move, Dumars would say he was off to a 2-10 start to the season and not the “ultimate deciding factor”.
“That wasn’t it,” Dumars said, according to ESPN. “I was very clear from the start, there was no mandate that you had to win a certain amount of games.
“There wasn’t even a mandate that ‘Oh, you have to make the playoffs or the playoffs.’ “We have to figure out who we’re going to be here in New Orleans going forward, and I just didn’t see that happening,” Dumas continued. “And that more than anything else is the deciding factor here.”
Now, New Orleans begins the process of searching for its next head coach, but first, the team looks to save its season as the next game is Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.
2025-11-15 18:28:00
