New Orleans players and coaches are departing on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles on Thursday evening, so they’ll be leaving the ultra-important task of making Thanksgiving dinner to someone else. But what if they needed a person within the team to prepare and cook a meal for them? The Pelicans were asked to select which teammate they would choose for this vital duty, and the results are in. New Orleans 12th-year center Jonas Valanciunas received the most “votes,” closely followed by guard CJ McCollum, who’s in his 11th NBA season (apparently age and experience help build trust when it comes to chow time). Here were all of the responses:
Dyson Daniels:“I’d probably trust Jonas. I feel like he could cook a good meal and has that international cooking gene.”
Jordan Hawkins: “I don’t know if any of them can cook. CJ probably can cook – he looks like he can cook.”
Brandon Ingram: “I heard Jonas can cook.”
Herb Jones: “Kira. He can cook noodles. Simple.”
Kira Lewis Jr.: “I’m going to go with CJ.”
E.J. Liddell: “Can I say myself? I haven’t really seen anybody else’s cooking and skills. I don’t want to see them, honestly.”
Naji Marshall: “Sheesh! Only if they brought back my man Garrett Temple. He’s the only one. No one on this team, for sure.” [laughs]
Trey Murphy: “Here’s the thing, food is something I take very seriously. I consider myself a food connoisseur. Maybe Jonas – I feel like he’s good on the grill. Other than that, I don’t think he’s too good at cooking. He’s probably the only one.”
Larry Nance Jr.: “Probably CJ.”
Jonas Valanciunas: “I would say BI.”
Cody Zeller: “I’m just getting to know JV, Valanciunas. I feel like he could make me some authentic food from his home country. If I’m being adventurous, I’d pick him.”
TOTAL “VOTES”:Jonas Valanciunas 4, CJ McCollum 3, Kira Lewis Jr. 1, Brandon Ingram 1, E.J. Liddell 1, Toronto guard Garrett Temple 1.