The first coaching dismissal of the new NBA season has hit Willie Green in New Orleans. After only two wins in the first twelve games of the season, the Pelicans’ head coach has been forced to vacate his position.
As the team announced on Saturday, Willie Green’s tenure as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans is coming to an end after just over four years. The 44-year-old took over the Pelicans’ sideline in the summer of 2021, but since then has only managed a total record of 150 wins to 190 losses in the regular season. In two playoff appearances by the Pelicans under Green, they were eliminated in the first round each time. After a start with only two wins and ten losses in the first three and a half weeks of the new season, the Pelicans’ management has now drawn a line under the situation. The Pelicans had even lost their first six games, including three losses by at least 30 points. This has never happened before in the history of the NBA. The Pelicans also lost their last four games, with New Orleans only managing to secure victories against the Charlotte Hornets (record: 4-8) and Dallas Mavericks (3-10), who also had a weak start to the season.
Bottom of the table with injury worries
The Pelicans are among the five worst teams in the league in both offensive and defensive ratings, and New Orleans is bottom of the Western Conference table. However, the Pelicans have also had to contend with a number of injury worries at the start of the season. Zion Williamson, for example, has only played five games, and summer signings Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in January, are also currently sidelined. Green’s successor on an interim basis will be former assistant coach James Borrego. The 48-year-old is set to take over the team until the end of the season and already has experience as a head coach. From 2018 to 2022, he was the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets (138 wins and 163 losses). Borrego also took over the Orlando Magic on an interim basis for 30 games in the 2014-15 season.
However, the first coaching dismissal of the season is already the second coaching change: Chauncey Billups is currently on leave from the Portland Trail Blazers due to the Hall of Famer’s temporary arrest by the FBI. Tiago Splitter has taken over the Trail Blazers for the time being.
