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New Orleans Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon joined Daniel Sallerson and Jim Eichenhofer on a recent Pelicans Podcast. The trio discussed the signing of Didi Louzada along with the growth of Naji Marshall, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Jaxson Hayes. Check out the full interview below:

Daniel Sallerson: Trajan First of all, happy gameday. How are you?
Langdon: Doing well Daniel, thanks for having me on. Excited for our game tonight against Denver. It'll be a good test for us.

Sallerson: Absolutely. First off, what's the weather like in Denver? I know it's about 85 here in New Orleans is it at least a little bit warm for you guys?
Langdon: Yeah, it's not that. No. It’s a little chilly here. Rained all night last night, a little bit overcast. But you know, I guess I wasn't here with the team three, four weeks ago and supposedly was really, really nice, like shorts and T-shirt weather. And unfortunately, it's not that today.

Sallerson: Gotcha. Well, I didn't mean to rub it in. I was just wanting to check on you and make sure you're doing good.
Trajan: We'll get back to that heat and humidity soon enough.

Sallerson: Absolutely. Well, let's talk about the signing of Didi Louzada. I know he was drafted on draft night two years ago, 35th overall and an acquisition from Atlanta. But why now? Why sign him to the contract now with 11 games to go?
Langdon: Yeah, I think for us, you know, we thought a lot about after we, after we drafted him, we knew we wanted to have him one year in Sydney. And we even talked about this last offseason. But with COVID, we just thought it made more sense to keep him with Sydney another season because we didn't know what this season in the NBA would look like. So we knew, keeping him there with a familiar group, and having him play a little bit more when we didn't know what this would look like. We had to make that decision really, really early in the process before we knew what this season was going to look like. And we talked to Didi agent. We said, Look, if we have the opportunity to bring you over this season, after you've played some games, and had an opportunity to really have a second season and help your team out, then we'd want to do that. And I think this opportunity arose. And we wanted to keep our word to do that to bring them over now. And it also gives us a chance to keep working with him through the summer, prepare him for the hopeful (NBA) Summer League after the draft. And that'll give him a lot more preparation time going into next season.

Sallerson: What did you see from him in those, I guess two years, you would say in Sydney? I know you'd mentioned COVID and how much he really couldn't play during that time. But what did you see from him that you really liked about his game in the two years he was there in Australia?
Langdon: I think coming from the league that he played in before, the Brazilian League, and playing in Franca, obviously didn't have the coaching and the development that he needed to really step up and play at this level. So playing for Will Weaver the first season and I think he learned a lot of the communication that’s used at a pro level. So understanding different terminology on both sides of the floor is a big thing for players that haven't been in the NBA, to help them translate their games. And I think learning that now for a year and a half, playing against grown men. The NBL is a physical league. And to play in the playoffs last year and into the finals gave him that experience of playing very important games throughout the season and having an important role. And I think he's gonna play a similar role with us that he played down there with Sidney which is you know, really defending being asked to defend one of the better perimeter players night in and night out, make shots and make some plays when you have him off the dribble. I think his feel for the game has gotten better. Decision Making has gotten better. And you know, he's a little bit of a streaky shooter right now. And we got to we got to get that a little bit more consistent. But the defensive effort is what we have really loved about Didi the whole time, and that never waned down in Australia.

Sallerson: And I know it can get complicated with health and safety protocols and with only 11 games ago but when will we might see Didi on the court as far as seeing him play a few games here before the season ends?
Langdon: Yeah, I think the biggest thing for us is just getting him dressed out. He's obviously past quarantine. So that's when we signed him to the contract. He's on a, he's got to get his work visa which is why he's not on the trip because without a work visa you can't play in games. So we got to get that done. And we're working on that currently because we couldn't start working on that until he signed his contract. So not sure the timing there but hopefully we can get that by the time next week rolls around and I hate to project but hopefully at some point next week you'll see him in uniform.

Jim Eichenhofer: Trajan, you mentioned that these last couple seasons which have been obviously very odd for everyone in basketball in terms of the way that the seasons have kind of unfolded. You said that Didi has improved in far as far as communication and learning the terminology of basketball. And that kind of thing at the pro level, what do you think are some of the things that you've seen him in his progression? You know, I think Daniel and I are most familiar with him as far as seeing him play in Summer League two years ago, where he was really impressive, but what do you think are some of the things that he's made progress on in his game over these last couple of years since then?
Langdon: Yeah, I think it's important at our level to be an active defender on and off the ball. He's always been really good on the ball, getting through ball screens, and even chasing and blowing up DHO handoffs, things like that. But it's, you know, in his first season, kind of off the ball in the low-man position, rotating over to a big rolling down the lane, you know, tagging getting back axing out, cracking, back, rebounding. Those are the things he struggled with early on that I assume he didn't see a lot of in the Brazilian League. And I think as last year ended and this year went on, you can see his focus off the ball has gotten better. His positioning, the small things that might go unnoticed, but really helped win games on the defensive end, he has really taken steps in. I think he's simplified his game on the offensive end. He's not trying to do too much, letting the game come to him a little bit more. Thinking shot first, and then driving after. I think he has a little bit more confidence in the shot this year than he had last year. But there, there are some things that you know, this is going to be a different level than the NBL down in Sydney. And so there's going to be different things he's going to have to really work on. And again, that's why we wanted to get him here now, so he has a full summer to be incorporated with our staff. Have them learn his game and him learn what we're going to expect from him. And so he's in a much better place in terms of being prepared going into next season.

Eichenhofer: I imagine, you know, you just touched on this, that you guys are excited and enthusiastic about the ability for him to have the whole offseason and I know everyone around basketball is looking forward to a more normal kind of summer than what we've experienced the you know, the last couple of years. Are there certain things though, that he is going to focus on as far as his offseason work and or when he plays in summer league? Because I'm sure people are going to look forward to being able to watch him play in summer league if hopefully, there is, you know, a return to however that's conducted this year?
Langdon: Yeah, I think, you know, the one thing I failed to mention earlier, is he's done an amazing job working on his body and his strength. I think when we drafted him, he was 185 lbs. He's around 210 lbs now, and it's all muscle, and he's become a better athlete, he's become stronger. And that's really helped his ability to drive the ball on offense, to protect the ball. And then defensively, to really guard in space and not get knocked back when players try to shove off or create separation. So those are things that I think he you know, kudos to him, he's really, really, last summer he spent a lot of time on the court and in the weight room, and really dedicated himself to getting better. I think just learning the game at this level, again, the game is faster, the closeouts are longer, you have a lot more people to shoot the ball, guys are bigger and longer. So he’s just going to have to get acclimated to that this style of play in this level of play. And I think we're going to want a lot of our young guys in the gym throughout the summer. So him playing against, and competing with, and working out with those guys, I think will help get them acclimated to that change.

Sallerson: Before we get to some of the other guys, when it comes to when he is able to get on the court, how are you going to evaluate him in such a short amount of time? Are you focusing on him as an individual, whether it's defense or offense? Or is more importantly, how he complements some of the other guys or how they complement him? Whether it's BI (Brandon Ingram) and Zion (Williamson) on the court at the same time, or just how he meshes with the team? How do you find the balance of what you're evaluating just from the few games he might play in this season?
Langdon: I think it's just if he gets a chance to get on the court is just get out there and feel the game. Make the right play. He's going to be in a very similar role that he was down in Sydney. And it's defend on one end. And then if you get a shot, take it if not drive a close out and make the right play whether it's finished in the rim or kicking out to an open shooter. So I think he's, he's been in those situations and he's been in important games. So I know he is super excited to play in these games. But those are the things in a nutshell that we would hope to see if you get some games this year. And then we'll hope to build on that over the summer.

Sallerson: A couple more questions for pelicans General Manager Trajan Langdon here on the Pelicans Podcast, you know there's some other young guys too that have been very impressive. And we got to start with Naji Marshall, the two-way player to a contract player from Xavier. Look, I feel like it's rare in this league to see the amount of impact the two-way guy has had on a team as far as minutes played, what he's been able to do on the court. What have you seen from Naji that's kind of led him to have the success he's had so far with the Pelicans?
Langdon: You know, I give Naji a ton of credit. He has worked since day one, he has embraced our coaching staff and our performance staff in terms of giving him what he's going to need to, to be able to transition to this level and to be able to compete and produce. And obviously, for the first part of the season, we were full strength. And he didn't get the opportunity to show that but he continued to work in the weight room and on the court. And then he was very receptive, and embraced the opportunity to go to the bubble and play with our G league team there. And I think that is kind of what has set the table for how well he has played with us upon returning. So we thought he played very well on the bubble, helped us be one of the better teams there. And even though we got knocked out early, I thought we played some really good basketball, and it was largely due to the way he played on both ends of the floor. And then he came back and didn't get the opportunity to right away, but stayed ready. And all of a sudden, we get this flurry of injuries. And, you know, a lot of players don't always get the opportunity as a two-way. And then he was blessed with that. And kudos to him. Like I said before, he's taken advantage of that opportunity. And, and it's really helped us and played well.

Eichenhofer: I think we've seen, you know, an obvious leap from the guys that were picked last year in the draft or two years ago, I guess it is now in term. And everyone's talked about Zion in terms of just how much better of a player he's been this year, and just the jump that he's made. But I wanted to ask you about Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, I guess we could probably start with Jaxson. What have you been the most pleased with as far as just the strides that he's made from the beginning of this season until now?
Langdon: I think Jaxson's mentality has changed. I think, obviously, there was a change in in coaching style, from last year to this year, coming from offensively to defensively slanted staffs. And we knew that change would take a second to be embraced by some of our players. And, you know, to Jaxson's credit, he has really embraced working outside of the lines. So really getting himself in better shape, getting stronger, I think those are the things that have impacted his increased productivity in his play as of late. But for him it’s his consistency. He'll have some really good games or he'll have some really good halves and won't be as productive in the second half or in the next game. So I think for him is, look, let's, let's take a game where you get 15 (points) and seven (rebounds), and let's do the same thing to the next game. Or take a half where you go seven and five, and then both do the same thing in the second half. So it's keeping him focused, keeping them driven. But, you know, he’s young. This is a different monster playing inside in the NBA. You know, he had to face DeMarcus Cousins the other day, who is a big, physical type body. Obviously, with a lot of experience in the league, and Jaxson is only a year and a half in and still 20 years old. So he's still working on that. His body hasn't reached maturity yet. That's going to take some time but he is putting the work in and this experience is all going to pay off here soon.

Eichenhofer: as far as Nickeil goes, obviously he's out right now and it's really unfortunate that he was he had to miss the stretch of games. But before then it seemed like he was really making progress and he's had some really standout games this season. What have you seen as far as just the progress and improvements that he's made in year two?
Langdon: Nickeil is the definition of consistency. He comes in every day, he puts the work in. Very disciplined in terms of his off the court habits. And he's obviously there's a changeover in the coaching staff is always going to be somewhat impactful to a young player. You have one staff that is showing him one thing and you develop relationships last year and then you have to you know, change over and kind of start a new in his second season. But I think he's done great with that, hasn't been a hiccup at all. And like you said he's been better, he has progressed he's been more productive. He's been a more confident player for us and was playing his best basketball before his injury and I feel bad for him. But we're super excited to have him back. We miss him, because he just does so much for us on the court on both ends. He's a guy that scored 30-plus in a couple games and is capable of that on any given night. But is also capable of guarding one of the better perimeter defenders on the other end. So we've been excited about his progress and super excited about getting them back here.

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Transcript: Trajan Langdon on the Pelicans Podcast - April 28, 2021

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Pelicans Forward Darius Miller on the Pelicans Podcast, presented by SeatGeekMay 8, 2020

On how he and his family are doing:Darius Miller: “We’re doing really, really well. Blessed, just trying to stay out of the way.”

On what he and his family members are doing to keep busy:Darius Miller: “I mean, you pretty much know that we're trying to entertain [our kids] the whole day. We're doing like a lot of home school stuff and trying to keep them active as much as possible, in the backyard, and just around our neighborhood."

On how his Achilles tendon is feeling during the rehab process:Darius Miller: “Really, really good. I've been trying to stay on top of it as much as possible. Obviously, I don't have the same resources I would if I could get into the facilities, but, we're doing the best we can with what we got, and it's been fun to be outside and train outside and get to like parks and just running around the neighborhood and stuff. It's been a lot of fun."

On what are the biggest challenges of not being able to go to the facilities to rehab during these times:Darius Miller: “I think the main thing I'm missing is not being able to be on a basketball court. Testing out movements, reacting to people as far as like defensively and stuff like that. I haven't gotten a chance to do that yet, and I think that's the next part to my rehab. So, I'll have to wait until I'm able to go against other players and get back into a facility on a court to see how that feels.”

On what the rehab process is like right now:Darius Miller: “I'm still strengthening the Achilles. Doing a lot of that and just trying to get my body in great shape really, that's about it at this point. Trying to get my strength back, my movement back, and getting into good shape.”

On if his rehab process is still on schedule:Darius Miller: "I would say we are (on schedule). Like I said, I can't really tell without…not being able to go against other players, go against some of the coaches and do some reaction stuff and see how it feels on the court. But, it feels great with all the stuff that I'm able to do out here at the park."

On how he is keeping in communication with the Pelicans training staff and if he's able to get evaluated over a video conference call:Darius Miller: “Yeah, I pretty much talk to them every day. But, I think in order for me to get back [to] playing, I just have to see how it feels on the court, honestly. See how it feels to do certain basketball movements that I can't really do at the park or just on the street outside. I can't really see how it feels and gauge it."

On how is the injury has affected him mentally:Darius Miller: “I was a little disappointed at the beginning. It was frustrating, but I mean, I tried to do the best I could with taking advantage of other opportunities off the court during the time. So, it worked out in the end, but it was definitely frustrating not being able to play, especially with this young group, really exciting group. I was really looking forward to it, but it worked out pretty well in the end.”

On if he was able to build relationships with his teammates despite being injured during the season:Darius Miller: “Oh, definitely. I was still, like you said, pretty much around every day. So, I built a pretty good relationship with almost everybody on the team. We have a great group of guys like I said earlier, really exciting group of guys, and I was really missing being out on the court and trying to help those guys this year."

On if he talked to Zion Williamson and if they helped each other through their separate rehab process:Darius Miller: “Yeah. Like you said, we were around each other a lot, just being with the trainers. So, we would talk about it and try to keep each other level headed through the times, really, but, I mean, that was something that the whole team and everybody in the facility was trying to do with both of us, honestly."

On how he would describe the 2019-20 Pelicans season thus far:Darius Miller: “I think it was a really, really good season. There was a lot of new faces at the beginning. We had to, like you said, get rolling and then with injuries on top of that, that was very difficult, but I feel like we got rolling right at the right time and hopefully we can pick the season back up and continue to play, because I think it would be exciting to watch. I really enjoyed watching the guys this year. Like I said, it's a really exciting group of players, really talented, and I think we've had a great year so far."

On what intrigues you the most about the young core on this Pelicans roster:Darius Miller: “I feel like we have one of the best young cores in the league, honestly. The depth that we have, the chemistry that we have, and I think the competitiveness that we have, those guys are really good, they're only going to continue to get better. So, if this core is able to stay together for the next couple of years, I think that it will be really exciting to watch and I think they'll be able to surprise a lot of people."

On how important it is to build a culture within an NBA locker room:Darius Miller: “That's very important, very important. Like you said, Griff (David Griffin) did a great job of getting great guys on the team and everybody is really focused on winning. I think that's one thing that really kept us together during the rough patches that we had with injuries and just learning each other as a team, and with the right attitudes and with the right focus every single day these guys came in and I think everything took care of itself, and I think that's why we got rolling there towards the end."

On how much the roster has changed from Kentucky alumni to Duke alumni:Darius Miller: “There was a little bit. Every time Kentucky lost I heard about it. That's a little bit different than it was in the past years. They kicked all of the Kentucky guys out, but I'm not mad at it, I still rep Kentucky every chance that I get, and I like to talk a lot of junk to them, so it's a lot of fun, it's a great atmosphere."

On what is the next step in the rehab process:Darius Miller: “I honestly don't know the answer to when I can be cleared, but the next step for me is just to continue to strengthen [the Achilles], workout as much as possible until the facilities open and then hopefully I can get in the gym and test it out during some basketball [activities]. That would just be the next thing."

On how if watching "The Last Dance" has made him think about how much the NBA game has changed since then:Darius Miller: “Definitely. I mean, it's a totally different game honestly, and it's just amazing to see the footage and go back and see someone like Mike (Michael Jordan), see Scottie (Pippen) and those guys, (Dennis) Rodman, and just to get the behind-the-scenes look at it and compared to what we go through to what they had to go through. I mean, those guys and the guys before them paved the way, so, it's really good seeing that, and I really appreciate just getting the footage and seeing how they lived on a daily basis, seeing the things they had to navigate through. I'm really enjoying the documentary."

On if he thinks the mentality of a player can change after watching "The Last Dance" documentary:Darius Miller: “Yeah, for the ones that want to be great. That's a very different mindset that you have to have to be a guy like (Michael) Jordan. But I think it's great for the young guys and even the older guys, I mean I remember Jordan but just seeing it again reminds you of how great a player he was. Like the difference between the games and everything like that. I definitely think it's great for young players to be watching this right now – and older players too.”

On what he has learned from watching "The Last Dance" documentary:Darius Miller: “There's so much you forget, so much stuff and then you're just reminded when you see it again. The documentary is really set up well. I'm just really enjoying watching it.”

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Transcript: Pelicans forward Darius Miller on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by SeatGeek - May 8, 2020

Alvin Gentry Conference Call – April 30, 2020

Opening Remarks:Gentry: “Believe it or not, I really do miss you guys (the media). I hope you are all safe and your families are safe. These are trying times not just for Louisiana and not just the United States but throughout the world. This has just been an unbelievably difficult time for everyone. I’ll just continue to say I hope that you are all safe and your families are safe. Obviously, everyone has heard we’re supposed to be re-opening the [practice facilities] throughout the league starting on (May 8th). We’ve decided here that the earliest we would open would be (May 15th). We’re going to align ourselves with what’s going on in [Louisiana] and with the Governor’s office and the mayor’s office and so we will not be doing anything until the 15th at the earliest. There’s still so many more questions that have to be answered. I’ll try to answer for you as we get into the Q&A. There’s also going to be so many things you ask that doesn’t have an answer right now, but I have total confidence in what we’re doing. From the [NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s office], we’ve got a great commissioner, and they’ve got committees and everyone is working 24-7 to try to come up with a solution, and we’re going to trust that they’re going to do the greatest job, and the number one thing for them is the health of the players, the health of the coaches and the health of the fans, so we have to take that under consideration when there’s any decisions being made. With that, if you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them as best I can.”

Has the team identified who the hygiene officer would be to ensure the facility remains sanitary and everyone in the facility be safe?Gentry: “That’s going to be (Vice President of Player Care & Performance) Aaron Nelson. He’s going to make sure that everything…he’s talked to the league and there’s a steadfast number of rules that have to be followed, and then with Aaron, I know he’ll go beyond that to ensure the safety of the players, disinfecting the facility, and all of that stuff. It’s not going to change from what we had in place right before everything was shut down. There will only be two coaches allowed, none of those will be bench coaches, and there will only be four players allowed in the facility at a time. Those are just some of the things that were talked about yesterday on our call, but like I said, we’re going to go beyond everything as far as [the facility] is disinfected and the players are safe.”

Should the city or state push the stay-at-home order past May 15th, would the Pelicans adhere to that or will the team try to get back into the facility?Gentry: “That’s something we will have to wait and see what the situation is. I know the one thing with [David Griffin] is he’s aligned us with what’s going on in the state, so that would be something that would have to be discussed, but I would say there is a possibility that yes, if they did push [the stay-at-home order] back that we may push it back also, but we don’t know the answer to that. That’s one of those questions that is tough to answer right now until it actually happens.”

What has it been like keeping in touch with the players and making sure they are mentally and physically ready when play resumes?Gentry: “I’m sure it’s been like that with everyone in the league. You try to stay in contact through text and phone calls. I’ve spoken to the majority of our guys on the phone just to see how they’re doing and to just see what’s going on. Like I said, the number one thing is that we worry about the health of them and the health of their families. We’ve talked about it, but some of our guys have been able to get in some workouts and do some things and stay a little bit in touch with the basketball part of it, but for themost part, I just talk to them about their families. I think we’ll have time to talk about the basketball part and how that would look when the time comes.”

How closely do you follow all the ideas being floated around about returning to play, and do you think any idea a bad idea, or is anything a feasible possibility?Gentry: “First of all, there’s so much speculation out there right now that I don’t know if any of it is very accurate right now. I don’t think the NBA has come to any conclusion as to what that would be or what that would look like right now, but I know, as I said, they’re working 24-7 to find some solution as to what it’s going to look like when we get back, but I do know most of it right now is speculation. I’m on a sub-committee with some other GMs and some other head coaches concerning how it’s going to look when we get back [to play], and I just know that there’s nothing definite out there right now, or there’s not one [idea] that is ahead of another right now. I just know, like I said, everything is based on what’s the safest way of doing, and then, how can we do this as fairly as we possibly can. That’s going to take a lot on maneuvering, a lot of talking, a lot of going through it with the coaches and the players and the GMs and the executive vice presidents, and trying to do what we think is best for everyone involved, and that number one priority will always be health.”

What was your evaluation of the team at full strength?Gentry: “Well, obviously, I thought we were playing really good basketball. I thought the Christmas trip really showed us what we could possibly do even when we weren’t at full strength. When we got everyone back, obviously we had our rotations that we felt we were going to have at the start of the year and we had guys that had kind of stepped up. Brandon (Ingram) has shown us the kind of player he can be, and obviously, getting (Derrick) Favors back and him anchoring our defense was a real key right there, because we’ve been so solid with our defense. We were the sixth best defensive team in the league since the All-Star break, so, I thought we were headed in the right direction. Obviously, being able to have Zion (Williamson) on the floor, and him getting better every single game, and our guys embracing what he brought to our team. That’s the one thing I think with this group – we were never the least bit fragmented or anything. That’s really, really tough to do when you lose 13 straight games, and usually, in the NBA, it’s almost impossible to survive that as a coach, to be honest with you. Our guys never wavered one bit, and Griff was great through this whole thing, saying ‘We’re going to get it turned around, I can see this team and we just gotta be patient with it.’ We did that, and we did it because of the leadership on this team. With Jrue Holiday and JJ Redick and guys like E’Twaun Moore, who’s more of a silent leader behind all of this, and Fave (Derrick Favors) and those guys. They kept this group together and we kept playing for a purpose, and when we did get Zion, those guys, there was not one bit of jealousy. They knew what we had in him. They, as a matter of fact, wanted him to be more aggressive and wanted him to do things that doesn’t really happen when you have a rookie on a team that has a bunch of veteran guys, so this is a great team with high character. We were playing great basketball, and I thought were going in a direction where we were going to be playing our best basketball when it mattered most.”

Any indication of whether the regular season would finish when basketball returns, or would you skip right to the playoffs? Any thoughts on how that would play out?Gentry: “That is one of those questions that I don’t think anyone has the answer to right now. I don’t know what it’s going to look like when we do get out playing. I think that is something that is continuallybeing worked on and talked about, starting in the league office. We don’t have any indication of how that would look and what it would be, we’re just hoping that we have that opportunity.”

Given that it will be difficult to get players into game shape if only two or three are allowed at the facility at a time, will that affect how you approach the season if it does restart? Do you play a more expanded rotation due to guys not being in full game shape?Gentry: “I think what will happen – and I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t – I think we will be given adequate time, in the best of situations, to try to get our guys in the position where they are in at least decent game shape to go out and play. I don’t think it’s going to be one of those things that if we come back they’re going to say, ‘Oh, we have five days and then we’re playing.’ I don’t see that possibility because I think that as the league has talked to everyone and understands how this is going to work, I think one of the things that they will always do is give guys adequate time to try to get themselves in decent shape so that we’re putting a good product out on the floor.”

What do you think the timeline looks like for ramping up and getting ready to play games?Gentry: “I don’t know. We’ve talked about that as coaches. I’ve talked to some guys, some of my friends, about it and talked about, ‘How will that look? How many days will we need to try to get that going?’ I think everybody has been between 20 and 30 (days). Things like that, you’ve got to take into consideration. These guys have to get their core strength back from a weightlifting standpoint. Then you have to get them on the court and you have to do some things along those lines. I don’t know the exact number right now, [but] I think it will be something that when we do receive that and understand that, then I think we can reorganize or schedule our practices and strength and conditioning things based on the number that we get from the league when that happens.”

How eager are the players to get the season restarted and do they have any reservations about restarting the season with no COVID-19 vaccine?Gentry: “Well, I think that’s in the back of everyone’s mind. It’s not something just from a basketball standpoint…going back to work, the hotels re-opening, the restaurants re-opening. I think that’s in everyone’s mind, so I don’t think there’s anything unusual about having concerns in that area right there. I think that in general our guys are just eager to get back to playing. I think in our case, our guys were really disappointed because, as I said, I thought and they felt like we were starting to peak and play our best basketball. When you look at the schedule that we had remaining, most of the teams that we were trying to catch, we were going to be able to play those teams. We really felt good that we still had an opportunity to hold our destiny in our own hands and not have to look at the scoreboard and pull for this team or that team. We were going to be able to control our own destiny and I think that was another thing that they were really excited about. If you’re talking about the general psyche of the guys, I think they’re concerned about how we can get on the court and still play. They just really felt good in the direction we were going.”

Did anything Zion Williamson did on the court this year surprise you, or was it what you expected?Gentry: “Well, it’s pretty much what we expected. I still think that in all the years that I’ve been in the league, I’ve never seen anyone that has a second jump like this kid. It’s amazing how he can hit the ground and be back up before anyone is really reacting to the first move that he had. I would say that’s been a pleasant surprise in those areas right there. I think what we found out is that he’s an excellentpasser, also. I think as he gets more comfortable handling a basketball, that’s going to be an area that everyone sees that he can be an elite guy from the position that he’s playing right there. He’s such a good guy, just from a teammate standpoint, that I knew our guys would be pulling for him. Our guys have embraced the fact that he’s a guy that we can finish games with, he’s a guy that we can go to when we need a basket, and he’ll make the right play. Like I said, from the standpoint of embracing a young player and understanding that, our guys have been great with him and he has been great with our guys.”

How would games without fans affect the players who feed off of the momentum and energy of the crowd?Gentry: “No doubt that’s going to be a tough situation if that ends up being what it is. It’s just an adjustment the players, the coaches, and everyone will have to make. Obviously every game has been played with fans in the stands for the entire career for everybody on this team and really for every coach. It will be something that I think in general you’ll have to adjust to, but I think guys and everyone will want to get back to playing and if that has to be the agenda right now, then we’ll have to do that. Obviously I know that everyone is working to the point of ‘When can we have the fans back in the stands?’ That’s a very important thing when you’re playing a basketball game or any sporting event, having the fans there to represent your team."

What are your thoughts on having everybody in one location to finish out the season?Gentry: “I don’t know. Obviously there’s a lot of good to it, there’s a lot of questionable things there. I really hadn’t speculated on any of it because I don’t have the ability to start and have all the answers of saying if we do this, then this will be the case, or if we do it in three cities, this will be the case. What I’m doing is I’m just sitting back just like everyone else waiting until the people who have the authority to make those decisions, make those decisions, and then we’ll go from there.”

How will you handle Zion Williamson regarding minute restrictions?Gentry: “We’ll have those conversations. Obviously, his health will be the number one priority, but the restriction was really off after his first 5-6 games. So, he was playing the minutes that he would normally play, considering with any situation really. But, it will be something that we talk about when we do resume and as far as how it looks for Zion from a minute standpoint, and we’ll do that really with some of the other players. This is unprecedented, really. You play in a basketball game, you play 60 games and then all of a sudden the season ends, and then now it’s going to start back up. So, this is going to be something that is different for every single player that has ever played in the NBA or is playing in the NBA now. So, as far as – I mean we’ll get with our medical people. I mean obviously Aaron (Nelson), (Head Athletic Trainer) Tom (Maystadt), and those guys are going to have a big say-so into how we play our rotations and how we practice and how long we practice, and this along those lines. I’ll sit down with those guys, and they’ll have input into all of those situations.”

How would you grade this season?Gentry: “I would say that the start was not an accurate evaluation of what we felt this team was going to be. There were some injuries. There were some things that went on that was out of the control of people. The tragedy with (Derrick) Favors’ mom passing away that kept him away from the team for such a long stretch and then getting him back and realizing what an impact he had on our team from a defensive standpoint. And then just implementing Zion (Williamson) into the whole chemistry of the team, and everything worked out. And then I just thought we found our groove if you want to call it that. And the rotations were good. Everybody was very accepting of their roles, and we were playing really good basketball. I thought that was more of an indication of what we were capable of. We had won 10 of our last 13 road games, I think. That’s tough to do in this league, and the thing that we continue to try to stress and we had to get better at is that we had to do a better job of playing at home on our home court and having a home-court advantage, and that was the thing that we were starting to stress and really put emphasis on because that’s where I thought we had the most struggles.”

How have you been supporting local restaurants, and how are you handling the stay at home order?Gentry: “I have been supporting a lot of local restaurants, but I also have been doing a lot of my own cooking that I didn’t think I had the ability to do. So, when you’re forced into a situation, I think sometimes you’re forced to do things that puts you in an uncomfortable situation. Cooking is not my comfort zone really, but I can read directions and follow them, so I’ve been doing some things as far as that. To be honest with you, the Fresh Market has been my savior because they basically put everything together that you need and give you directions, so I can come home, and in 20 minutes I can cook a meal that’s even edible from my standpoint. But it’s been tough, and I do want to say that it’s just a really tough time because in New Orleans obviously the music and the food is what we live by here and the two teams we got here with the Pelicans and the Saints. I mean, that’s what this city is all about. So, their going through a real, real tough time, so I will say this, that anytime you have a chance to do something for the local economy here, I would say that I hope everyone would do that. And I love the commercials that we have on T.V. because we will get through this and we’ll do it together. Everyone here knows that, and everyone that’s ever been associated with this city knows what this city represents, and everyone says how tough (Hurricane) Katrina was, and everyone pulled together and got through that. I think everyone will do the same thing with this. They’ll continue to try to follow directions of the leaders of this city and the leaders of this state. And we’ll find a way to get through this, and we’ll do it together as this city does with everything else.”

What do you think the quality of play will be like once the NBA resumes?Gentry: “Well, obviously, the guys have been off for a while. So, regardless of how many days we get, I think it’s going to take a little while for everyone to get timing back and game-type situations and things like this. But, I think the guys are so eager to get back out on the court that I think the level of play from an intensity standpoint is going to be fine, and then it will take a few games for everybody to get their timing back and everything like that. But, I think from an intensity standpoint everybody’s going to compete at a real, real high level.”

Closing Remarks:Gentry: “Yeah. I look forward to seeing you guys, I really do. I miss that part of it, just talking and communicating and having you guys around the practice facility. All of those things right there are something that I think that we all miss, and we all miss just being together and talking. So, hang in there, and hopefully, we can get that situation resolved, and we can get back to the new normal. So, please stay healthy and stay safe.”

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Transcript: Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry conference call - April 30, 2020

Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker on The Pelicans Podcast, presented by SeatGeekApril 29, 2020

Daniel Sallerson: What's going on and welcome into the Pelicans Podcast, presented by SeatGeek, on this Wednesday. I hope everyone is doing well, staying at home, practicing social distancing. We have a great guest for you on this Wednesday as we're joined by Pelicans rookie guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. First of all, Nickeil, how are you doing right now?

On how he is doing right now:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: I'm doing great. How are you?

On what is he doing to keep busy during these times:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: It is tough, but fortunately, I've been able to finally have some time to take care of things that I didn't get to during the season. So as far as my apartment goes, I've been kind of interior designing a little bit. Just finishing up the place. Making it look like more of a home. Adding some shelves and furniture here and there. So, it's been fun as far as that stuff goes."

On if he enjoys interior designing:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "This is something I just realized I like to do. I wasn't always into it, but the more I started to make my apartment seem like my dream place, that's what really got me into it."

On what he has been doing to stay in shape during the NBA 'Hiatus':Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "Fortunately, my agency has our trainer in Los Angeles doing Zoom workouts. And so I've been able to get on those Zoom workouts with them."

On his workout space at home:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "Fortunately, I have a lot of space, so it isn't too hard. I can still get what I need to done and still do the majority of the drills. Also, one of our other trainers Stan Williams has been sending me core workouts and then me and him will kind of compete with each other to see who’s staying on top of that. So it's been fun."

On how his wrist is feeling after the injury:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I recently was in the cast for, I would say, a little bit over five weeks and just took it off. So, fortunately, I did not have to do surgery, which we thought I might have. So, I'm grateful and thankful that God has allowed my wrist to heal properly without it (surgery). It's starting to come back well. I'm in the soft cast, and I'll do exercises and make sure that the range of motion is coming back to where it used to be."

On summarizing his rookie season up to this point:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I would say it's one of the biggest learning curves I've had to endure in my life, but it was probably the best year for me in terms of just learning and growing as a man. This is, in hindsight, really my first job, so just learning how to be a professional and not really finishing college and jumping into like the real world showed me and opened my eyes to really respect all that my mom does, and how easy it is, but at the same time how hard it is to be an NBA player. Every kid thinks about the glory parts, scoring and everyone knowing your name and being an All-Star, but not too many people take into consideration the process of it. And so it made me appreciate hard work more. It made me appreciate JJ (Redick) more. Just him and having some like him and Jrue (Holiday) to be like older brothers for me."

On what was the most challenging part of transitioning to the NBA:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I would say on the court. Off the court, I pretty much loved it just because it was something super new to me. Being able to travel on our own plane and having the recliner seats. For me it was like the fan experience of the game. I was just loving it, soaking it all up. But, on the court the adjustment for me was really huge in terms of physicality, making the right play all the time, decision making, stuff like that. But, I think just adjusting to that and how frequent we're playing and how much intensity you have to bring all the time, I think, was my biggest adjustment."

On how much did it help having Zion Williamson and Jaxson Hayes with you during that transition:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "It's super big because the one thing about basketball is like the relationships you get out of it, and it's super helpful, and you never know how it can affect you down the line. And so, for me growing with them and just learning from them, learning from Jaxson's experience, which was totally different than mine. So, my insight might be able to help him from what I've seen and he can help me because we've seen different aspects, but we're all the same year. And so if we go through something and Jaxson starts to go through it now me and Z (Zion Williamson) can now help him with that. Or if I go through something that Jaxson and Z have already been through, it's kind of like a support system, and we have each other's back. Especially because, like you said, our relationship has been tight since the beginning, I think it's just helped us a lot."

On if he helped Zion through his recovery process:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "Oh, for sure. The competitor that he is and the talent that he is, especially it being his first year, you never want to tell him, ‘Oh you can't play,’ because that's just not something that he would take lightly. But, I think he helped us more than we know it. Just by seeing his approach when injured. I think that matters also too because, God forbid, but if that happens to us we can now all lean on him. But, we were always there for him every step of the way. He knew that. The good thing about our relationship is if anyone of us goes through anything, we know for sure that we can count on the other person. So, just like steam room talks, where me and him would just be hanging out after practice talking, I think I try and do my best to make sure that he knew God had a plan for him, and no matter what, he's still going to be a great player."

On what he has learned from JJ Redick in terms of professionalism:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I would say JJ probably just saved my career. There's so much I didn't know and probably wouldn't know for quite some time if it wasn't for him. Honestly just his approach is second to none. He works super hard every day and just always willing to teach me, like to answer a question and to be that big brother, in the sense, and I needed that tremendously. Because like as a rookie and playing the guard position with so many other exceptional guards on the team like just learning from him and seeing what he's done in his career has helped me because like I said I've been able to now do things that I didn't think was going to be important, but now he's shown me the importance of it."

On the Pelicans players and if they genially enjoy each other:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I honestly believe so. I think you can kind of throw in like D Fav (Derrick Favors), Jaxson (Hayes) and K Rich (Kenrich Williams) and all three of them are going to talk and get along. It's just like you can assort us how you would like, but everyone no matter what is still going to enjoy each other's company. We're all laughing together in the locker room, just joking around, and I think enjoying being a team, being a family in a sense, and I think it's fun to be in the locker room. The energy's always good, and I think we're really close, and some people just wouldn't know it."

On if he thinks the Pelicans could make a run down the stretch and possibly make the playoffs pending the NBA's decision for the remainder of the 2019-20 season:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I think having Z (Zion Williamson) back also helps. Just because just his presence and all the tremendous things he's able to do. But, I think when you are a young group, and you're coming from a whole bunch of different situations, like the Lakers for J Hart (Josh Hart), Zo (Lonzo Ball) B.I. (Brandon Ingram) and then Jrue (Holiday) now having to be one of – Jrue and E'Twaun (Moore) being like one of the remaining guys that was there with Frank (Jackson), and then rookies come in. I think the whole stretch being a young team took us a little bit of time just because all of us came from different situations. So, putting it together and piecing the puzzle wasn't easy at first, but I think once we got over that little hump, we started to click, and we found our niche. Everyone accepted their role, which is huge, and it helped our team fight all the way back up to that ninth spot."

On how important it would have been to make the playoffs, have that experience and take in the atmosphere of a playoff game if the NBA season does not resume:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I think experience is life's best teacher, so, for us to want to be a championship-contending team for years to come, I think just having the experience and making the playoffs. Just being there can also help because now you have a feel of the atmosphere. You have a feel of the intensity and the sense of urgency and now know what it takes to make it and then now you have to find that next level of knowing what it takes to win a series. And then the next level of winning another series. And then it's kind of just piecing it all together to build up. But, even just from a competition standpoint, going against the best guys in the world and seeing how they compete and guys who you're playing against have one championship, so they know what it feels like to be in this situation that you're in for the first time. And it's a great time to learn from your opponent as well. So, I think, all in all, having that promising future of knowing that we can make it with a young team, and now imagine when we all grow together, we all become more experienced what we can do."

On how big his shoe collection has gotten and if there is enough storage in his apartment for all of them:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I’d say in the hundreds. But, honestly I did have to – the closet that I did have in my room I had to extend from there. I did have to turn one of my extra guest rooms into a closet. So, that's what part of the shelves were, like going to Home Depot and getting a bunch of shelves and getting them put up on the wall so now I can have more room and just show as much as possible there. But yeah, it causes a little bit of a headache, but I finally got it to work."

On who has the best shoe collection between Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes or himself:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "To be honest, I think it's safe to say I know what they would say. So, I think I can answer for all three of us by saying me. I think from a kid like it's just always been my thing, I just loved shoes. I had a thing for shoes and knowing about shoes and the history. My older cousin at the time was trailblazing away for me in terms of collecting shoes and what it meant to take care of his shoes. Having the zip lock bags and putting them in the bag and putting them back in the box, cleaning them religiously, making sure that you can wear them 10 times, but it looks like you haven't even tried them on yet. And so little things and seeing his passion for it. I adopted it to myself and just ran with it because it was something that kind of made me sort of at peace when I wasn't playing basketball."

On how much do you talk to your cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during these times:Nickeil Alexander-Walker: "I think in this time, it's important that everyone looks after their families. Make sure they're staying safe. So first and for most, every day, we talk to each other, making sure we're all good. We have a group chat with my other cousin and his brother and our friend from when we were younger. So, I think we're all just talking, laughing, we'll send each other different shoes that are coming out, memes we see. But just keep that connection of just communicating with each other during this time, making sure we're all good."

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Transcript: Pelicans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by SeatGeek - April 29, 2020

General Manager Trajan Langdon on the Pelicans Podcast presented by SeatGeekApril 20, 2020

On how he and his family are doing right now:Trajan Langdon: We are holding up well, Daniel. I appreciate you having me on. Nice weekend…a little bit of rain, but other than that the weather here in New Orleans has been fantastic through this quarantine, so (I’m) just enjoying another beautiful day here today.

On how he and his family are staying busy at home:Trajan Langdon: We came together and kind of created a routine and a schedule. My boys, who are in third and sixth grade respectively, are still having their online classes and assignments and they kind of haven’t missed a beat. During the day they do their work and we try to hold them on-task, and then in the afternoon we go out and get a little running in or biking in or some kind of activity. We have a little basketball hoop up in our driveway, so they get their shots up. I rebound for them and put them through some ball-handling drills, and then we just kind of chill in the evenings. We kind of try to stick to that routine and stay on-task and stay productive as much as we can.

On how basketball operations is staying busy during the uncertainty surrounding the NBA hiatus:Trajan Langdon: That’s a good question. A lot of time I’ve spent on the phone, honestly. I have talks with Bryson Graham, Todd Quinter – the two guys that oversee our college and pro scouting staffs, respectively. Those two guys and Griff, I’m on pretty regularly with…just trying to get an understanding of what we want to do going forward. A lot of time I spend right now reading scouting reports, watching a lot of film on the draft prospects, and just trying to understand how we’re going to put together our top 45 right now and getting into our top 60 we’re going to have. We’re kind of ahead of schedule right now. Bryson, our assistant GM, has done a fantastic job of kind of putting together a schedule for us leading through the next month and a half. Part of that is interviewing senior prospects; we’ve done some of that on some calls. As soon as the underclassman list comes out, we’ll start attacking some of those interviews as soon as we’re allowed to. That’s kind of what’s coming up soon. (The Draft is) a long ways away, but not much is going to change in terms of evaluating these prospects between now and the draft just because there’s no more games to watch, there’s going to be no more Chicago (NBA Draft Combine). I don’t know what it’s going to look like in terms of getting draft prospects in our gym for pre-draft workouts, so I think we can get a lot of hay in the barn now, do a lot of work, and then whatever additional info, just kind of tweak our top 60 at that point. We are pretty busy, but it’s been good so far. We’ve been able to get a lot of work done.

On the having virtual meetings with draft prospects:Trajan Langdon: This past weekend would’ve been the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament where you have the top seniors, so that’s how we’re trying to track our schedule is just trying to keep it the same. We kind of went down the list of the guys that would’ve been there. Some of them have already signed with agents. The agents are withholding them from these interview processes for now, so we probably got in eight to ten interviews with guys so far. I don’t think anything has changed, aside from being across the table from somebody. We’re looking at each other in a camera, which is definitely different, but it gives you a better perspective for the prospect than talking to him over a phone on a conference call. It’s good to see their faces, good for them to see ours. We’ve met some of them before because some of them tested the waters last year. I still think it’s great to have 25-30 minutes to talk to these guys, go back and forth, and get a better feel of who they are as people.

On how much scouting is done before the conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament and how important those are for evaluating talent:Trajan Langdon: I think a lot of the work is done. For me especially, I use the conference tournaments as a chance to see a lot of the guys for the second time and maybe some other prospects for the first time not as high on our list. Usually by the conference tournaments I’ve already seen guys that we feel very strongly about, and it’s a chance for me to see them in that kind of pressure-filled environment because it’s the most important month of the season when you go from conference tournament to NCAA play. But you really like seeing the conference tournament because sometimes you get to see a team play three times in three days, and you can see how strong-minded these guys are. A lot of people on that third day will physically fold, but (you see) how mentally tough they are to make the right decisions and will their team to win. It’s not the whole picture, but it is part of it in terms of mental and physical toughness in a pressure-packed atmosphere as well. Those are always very fun environments to not only be a part of, but also assess talent. A lot of times it’s the last look that you get at a player. Some of these prospects don’t make the NCAA tournament, so that conference tournament is the last look you’re going to get in live play before you’re going to see them in an environment like a Chicago pre-draft or in your own gym for a pre-draft workout. Rarely do you get to see them five-on-five, maybe one or two games in Chicago, but the best you’re going to get in your own gym is going to be three-on-three and sometimes you’re not going to be able to see them if they’re (rated) too high or if their agents only want them to do (individual) workouts. It’s definitely an important time, and we’re just going to have to deal with this year without that opportunity.

On players skipping college to go overseas or to the NBA G League before entering the draft:Trajan Langdon: Yeah it’s really interesting. This thing came about late last week with the league office and (G League President) Shareef Abdur-Rahim overseeing it with the G League path. It will be interesting. Obviously it’s a test case, something that they’ve talked about now for a year, year and a half, and they’re able to implement it with this next season. I think it’s actually going to work out really well for those players, being that who knows what’s going to happen with collegiate athletics going into next season if a lot of these schools are not talking about re-opening until second semester. If that actually comes to fruition, what is that season going to even look like? I think a professional season will allow these players to kind of get better and really progress in terms of their skills and their development, more than guys who might just be sitting at home if they’re not allowed to go to school. It will be an interesting development on who decides to go that G League path, which players just say, ‘OK. I’m not going to go to school. I’m going to take the NBL (Australia) route or the European route.’ But it is something that’s going to start changing the landscape of athletics going from high school to the NBA level.

On what he has learned from the Pelicans by re-watching some of the games from this season:Trajan Langdon: Yeah. I mean some of the games I've been fortunate to be a part of as the (guest on the) playback. Obviously, in preparing for the show, you get to watch several clips over and over and watch different quarters over and over, and it’s been kind of fascinating the way different guys stepped up in different parts of the season with the different injuries that we've had. You kind of see the team at different points of the season as well. The games that I was able to watch that are closer to the end, you kind of see a lot more confidence coming about within our team. Guys have understood who they are. Guys have gotten healthier, and there's a lot more of a rhythm and an understanding of, ‘Okay, this is how we are going to approach this game. This is what the coaches want from us. This is my role on the team.’ Which I think happens with almost any team but, with the team that we have with so many new players coming from different places, it takes time to gel and come together and understand. Chemistry doesn't happen overnight, but I think by game 40-50, we started playing some really good basketball, understanding who each other was. I think the common thing for us through the whole season was guys like each other, they've played together. They've always wanted to win, it just didn't happen for some time. It didn't click for a while, but guys are competitive and they really wanted to win, and they really believed towards the end of the season that they could. The playoffs were definitely a goal for our guys. It wasn't just, 'Well let's see if we can squeak in.' No. It was like 'Let's go get this thing. Let's show that we are a playoff team.’ So I think even now guys have that on their mind and want to prove that when we open back up and start back up again.

On how much he looks at draft prospects off the court when scouting them:Trajan Langdon: It will be a huge part. It will be a huge part that we think about and put in the mix every draft, and we did it last year with every person that we drafted. Obviously, Zion (Williamson) at one but then Jaxson (Hayes), Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), Didi (Louzada) in the second round, they’re all high character guys that love playing the game. Competitive, work their butts off, that's exactly what we're going to be looking for in this next draft and the drafts to come. We have a group of guys that are very competitive. The guys that are going to come in here mentally are going to have to be ready. They're going to have to be tough. They're going to have to be strong-minded, because I think we have a group, if you fast forward a year, that's going to be ready to take a big step, and whoever's not on board to do that – to sacrifice, to step their game up – it's going to be difficult for those guys to survive in this environment, because I just think it's going to get more competitive and higher expectations every year. We need to have guys with the mental fortitude and that will to be part of this group and push this group – not only in games, but in practice every day. That takes a special kind of person, and those kind of people are the ones we are looking for.

On his opinions of the first two episodes of "The Last Dance":Trajan Langdon: Well I knew there was some difficulty in that last year, but I didn't know the whole back story to it. I knew there were some things with Phil (Jackson) and management and I knew with Scottie (Pippen) and management. But, the whole back story with things behind the scenes, I don't know how many people knew into the depths that it actually went, and it was a day-to-day kind of battle between the front office and the coaching and the players, and that's always difficult. That's why we talk about in our front office; it's extremely important to have similar thinking from ownership to the front office to coaching staff to players, and if everybody is along the same lines of thinking, it makes it a lot easier to be successful. But the fact that they were able to be successful and win a championship amid all that distraction and stress, I think shows even more what a great team they actually were and why they were so dominant and one of the better teams if not the best team in the history of the NBA. So that's what was interesting to me. But for me, look, I grew up in Anchorage Alaska, and people don't realize…TBS and WGN were two of the channels we had growing up, so I used to watch Mike (Michael Jordan) from a young age. Especially that 63-point game and some of those games he had limited minutes, I was watching some of that as a youngster so it's really cool kind of to flashback and see the behind the scenes thoughts going into it, because obviously as someone who is 10, 11 years old, you have no idea why this guy's not playing that much. To see him come back after missing 60 games and actually score and do what he did in that first round against Boston is pretty fascinating

On if his two sons were able to watch "The Last Dance" with him:Trajan Langdon: Yeah. It's really cool because they know the name, they've seen some highlights, but this generation Kobe (Bryant) – not even Kobe, but LeBron (James) is the guy. My 12-year-old, his favorite player is LeBron. He respects Michael, but I think watching this, he can really understand who he was as a player, how he affected the game, how he affected his team. So, he was locked in. My eight-year-old is kind of all over the place, but my 12-year-old was definitely locked in. So it will be fun to share these "Last Dance" documentaries with him over the next month.

transcript-trajan-langdon-on-the-new-orleans-pelicans-podcast-presented-by-seatgeek-april-20-2020

Transcript: Trajan Langdon on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by SeatGeek - April 20, 2020

Pelicans Guard Jrue Holiday on The Pelicans Podcast presented by SeatGeekApril 15, 2020

On how he and his family are doing right now:Jrue Holiday: Man, we're doing well. We're staying home, which is the best thing we can. We walk the neighborhood a little bit. My daughter is currently in the pool swimming, and the weather has been great here. It's been kind of a blessing. But yeah, man, everybody in the family is doing well.

On how he and his wife Lauren are keeping themselves and their daughter J.T. entertained:Jrue Holiday: Finding different things, different crafts – Amazon's been amazing – but different crafts to do if it's with paint or chalk. We do her letters, shapes, and numbers. We kind of get the school thing in, like 30 minutes to an hour a day. That helps. I've been watching movies with her…kind of movies that I grew up with like “Hercules”. She watched “Mulan” the other day and really liked it, so I'm really excited about that. Yeah, man, you just have to be creative.

On his daughter saying she wanted to watch movies all day yesterday and if that actually happened:Jrue Holiday: It happened until about three o'clock. So, that's actually longer than I – I know, and that's like a dream of mine. My wife and my daughter can't sit still, so (they are) always going outside or doing something or having an activity for them. But when she said she wanted to stay in bed all day, that was like a dream come true for me. But, she did pretty well until about three.

On if he’s watching the same movies on repeat or if he’s able to mix it up:Jrue Holiday: Yeah. One that I had never seen was “Trolls 2” or “Trolls the Rock Tour” or whatever…the new one. That was actually a really good movie. I enjoyed it, I think J.T. enjoyed it too. Lo (Lauren) fell asleep, so I guess she didn't enjoy it that much. But, it was – that was one I enjoyed. We watched some of the minion movies, (“Despicable Me”) one, two, and three. She always wants to watch “Frozen” though, like “Frozen 2”. And since we've seen it a million times, I didn't let her watch it yesterday.

“Frozen 2” or even “Frozen”, but she always talks about like in “Frozen 2” there's not a – there's not like a scary part or a bad guy. And the fact that she can, I guess, kind of sense that as a three-year-old is amazing to me. But, every other…like “Hercules” has a bad guy, “Mulan” has a bad guy. I guess the Troll movies didn’t necessarily have a bad guy, but there was kind of like scary parts. That’s what “Frozen 2” is pretty much about. I feel like that's why kids love it because you sing, and there's no part that you really get really nervous in. Be prepared just to watch that every day, three or four times a day.

On what he is doing to stay in shape:Jrue Holiday: I’ve got a little bit of home gym stuff. We got a Peloton. We have like slant boards, kettlebells. We have bands to do band work. We box…me and my wife do. We kind of get that in. We got a jump rope. That stuff is pretty fun. Me and my wife go on – around our neighborhood – we do maybe like a two and a half-mile run…that's not for me, that's all the soccer player. That's all my wife. I do not like running. But, we do that and then with my trainer Mike (Guevara), we do some kind of like field work. I put on the cleats, put on the gloves and do like some football drills, which have been really, really fun and the weather has been really nice. That's probably been one of the funnest parts for me.

On the difference between being in 'shape' and being in 'basketball shape':Jrue Holiday: For me, it's totally different. I think the energy that you exert when you play basketball can't be replicated. You can do it the best you can, but I think the only way you can do that is actually by playing basketball. Being able to – I mean just run in an instant, sprint to a jog, to back-peddling, to jumping up for a ball, to lunging, sliding defensively, fighting somebody in the post, fighting somebody over a screen, fighting somebody to get over a screen if you're an offensive player. I just feel like you kind of have to be in basketball and be able to do that type of stuff on the court to be able to get that. But I mean there are things to kind of maximize it outside. Yeah, you can run all day and you can ride bikes and get a Peloton bike and do all that, but there's just something different once you step on the court.

On the frustration of the NBA season being suspended right when the Pelicans were making a push for the playoffs:Jrue Holiday: Yeah, man. When you get in a groove or you find that chemistry as a team, it's a really good feeling. It's kind of like a little bit of a high, and you get like kind of the utmost confidence. It doesn't matter who you're playing or what the schedule is like. We kind of have that confidence anyway, but we were locked in and I feel like that was the most important part. One through 15, we were locked in and we knew the goal and what the goal was, and we felt like we had a great chance to meet that. For that to kind of be disrupted and potentially possibly not even get a chance to complete, really sucks. We put in a lot of work. We've been through a lot this season, just obstacles and being able to fight through that. How this kind of played out kind of sucks.

On the progress the Pelicans have made from game one to the NBA season being postponed:Jrue Holiday: It was the start of a brand new team where we knew that we had a lot of talent, and it was just about putting that talent together and finding ways to win games. I feel like we started to kind of click, and then when Zion (Williamson) came back and fit him in there and got him playing more, it started getting really fun. You kind of saw the light at the end of the tunnel. So, even still to this day, I still see the light and how good we can be, and I feel like we were just showing the world how good we could possibly be. But, to this point now, it's just kind of like…it's a positive….it is a positive from where we started to where we are now but, again, we wanted to finish it out.

On the balance of being safe but wanting to come back to playing basketball games:Jrue Holiday: I think that for me personally, the most important thing is obviously health. Rest in Heaven to Karl-Anthony Towns’s mom. That's devastating to hear, and my heart is broken, and I don't know how I would react to that if my mother was in that situation or if I was in that situation. But, I think that's the most important thing right now, is to make sure that we do what we’re supposed to do to keep each other safe. It's not even just about our families. It's about my neighbor and my neighbor's grandkids or my neighbor's grandparents. I just think as a community we have to kind of look out for each other. Yeah, we want to come back and play. No, I feel like it would be weird to play without fans. But at the same time, I feel like we can bring joy back by playing, and if that happens to be without fans and they get to watch on TV and still bring like this camaraderie together where people have hope or something to cheer for, I think that would be cool.

On playing his best basketball of the season right before the hiatus:Jrue Holiday: Yeah. It’s also kind of weird to think…I think around maybe this time last year – maybe a month before – I had surgery. I’m pretty much a year off of surgery and it took me about that time to really get back to playing at the level that I wanted to play at. I feel like a lot of it was my teammates. Obviously the way BI (Brandon Ingram) played this year was phenomenal. Just watching him and even going back now and watching highlights and watching the games that they play on TV – the playbacks – seeing how BI played, I feel like while I was in it I would try to match his level and his intensity. So he pushed me so much to kind of get to the place where I needed to be. Again, it kind of just sucks that you feel like you kind of get short-changed. I feel like I’m playing the best I can, and our team is playing the best we can, and we wanted to end up going to L.A. in April and hopefully making that eighth seed and playing against the Lakers. Obviously for me personally that would have been a very – and even as an organization – that would have been a very very cool, challenging thing to do.

On how his leadership role has evolved over the past few years:Jrue Holiday: I think I’ve learned a lot. I think I learned how to communicate with different players. Going through different types of struggles, ups and downs…being able to communicate in that way. For the most part, I feel like I did everything that I usually do. I try to lead by example every single day. I try to empower my teammates. If somebody misses a shot or their playing time is being cut for whatever reason or even having an injury. Just being me, Darius (Miller) and Zion (Williamson) being hurt at the same time, we had a lot of conversations about that. I have a little bit of a history with injuries and surgeries, so just stuff I can pass on. But yeah, for the most part I think that I really just try to lead by example, and anything that I can give, I will try my best to.

On having fellow veterans like JJ Redick and Derrick Favors on this young team:Jrue Holiday: It was great. From there, something that I might lack, they pick that up. JJ, just from the beginning as you step in, you can feel and hear his presence. Anytime he speaks people listen, and I feel like there’s the kind of presence that I definitely try to mimic. Derrick Favors is a little bit more on the quiet side and he doesn’t talk as much, but when he speaks, literally everybody stops and you can hear a pin drop. I feel like that’s important of Derrick, especially (for) a guy who kind of does everything that nobody wants to do and he’s great at that. He’s great at getting other people open. He’s great at making other people successful and making them look successful. He does not complain at all. Another thing as you kind of look back and learn from him is, if he’s willing to do this and he’s ten (or) eleven years in, maybe that’s just something that I have to look into myself and be like, ‘Alright, well I’m not necessarily the man. I have to do whatever my team needs to win.’ I feel like our leadership roles were all different, but we meshed well together. I think that how we came together was really cool.

On what Vince Carter has meant to him as a basketball player:Jrue Holiday: Man…Well, starting with what he meant to me as a basketball player, I almost went to (North) Carolina, and part of that was because of Vince Carter. I remember I missed the game where he was in Jersey – I think he was playing against Miami, maybe – and he had like this crazy dunk. I remember walking out to the car for school the next morning – and obviously ESPN is on in my house – and I saw the highlight and then from there all I really tried to do was try to dunk like Vince Carter. Again, I felt like he had all the abilities to be one of the greats that he is. He can shoot. He’s athletic…super athletic. He can dunk on you. He could do whatever and get wherever he wanted to on the court. To be able to start off there, and then to play against him – even towards the end of his career (when) he became more of like a jump shooter – just his versatility, man, the things that he could do…Just playing in this league for that long, the toll (it takes) on your body, you could really tell he took really good care of himself mentally and physically. He’s definitely somebody not only I, but other people should look up to if they wanted to have kind of a long career in this league.

On if he will watch ESPN’s premier of "The Last Dance” on Sunday:Jrue Holiday: Come on, man. That’s the GOAT, bro. It doesn’t matter what was happening or what was going on, that’s going to be on my TV. Hopefully I can get my daughter to sit down and watch it. She probably won’t care for it, but I’m really excited for it.

transcript-pelicans-guard-jrue-holiday-on-the-new-orleans-pelicans-podcast-presented-by-seatgeek-april-15-2020

Transcript: Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by SeatGeek - April 15, 2020

Pelicans.com

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday will join Pelicans Radio Studio Host Daniel Sallerson on today’s edition of the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by SeatGeek. Fans can listen to the podcast on Pelicans.com, the Pelicans app and Apple podcasts.

Check out the Pelicans Audio page for all Pelicans podcasts.

jrue-holiday-to-appear-on-new-orleans-pelicans-podcast-presented-by-seatgeek

Jrue Holiday to appear on New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by SeatGeek

Vice President of Basketball Operations & Team Development Swin Cash on The Pelicans PodcastApril 13, 2020

On how she and her family are holding up:Swin Cash: We’re doing good, just using this time to really focus on things we need to get done around the house. Saint has been cooking with me a little bit, so that has been kind of fun…and just trying to make the best of the time that we have together.

On her Easter weekend:Swin Cash: Yeah we had our own little concert series in our house. We were streaming on Instagram…Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith had different guests on. Yolanda Adams was amazing. We streamed our church and worship service, so we were able to dance and kind of have a lot of fun with that. Just enjoying – just trying to play a lot of different music. Our activity time is really (passed) by dancing and celebrating though, and that’s why we’re trying to stay active as much as we can in the house.

On her go-to Easter candy:Swin Cash: I really don’t have any. I love jelly beans, I will say that. I am a jelly bean girl. I love jelly beans. It’s funny because my son doesn’t like a lot of sweets, so the Peeps – he just looks at it and I kind of put it to his mouth, and he was like, ‘Yuck!’ and took off running. So I don’t know whether to laugh at that or actually be really happy, as I’m told it’s a good thing if your kids don’t really like sugar that much – which he hasn’t had a lot of since he’s been little. I would say I’m a jelly beans girl and now I’m eating my son’s Peeps because he’s not eating any of the candy we got him for Easter.

On how she staying busy with work while spending this time at home:Swin Cash: Obviously engaging with the players, checking in with them (and) their families, seeing how they’re doing. I love seeing our guys active on social media and interacting with the fans; that’s always great. And also preparing: obviously we have to continue business as usual, and so (we are) just getting really familiar and watching back some game film and different things of that sort is always something that can occupy the time…just making sure your preparation is there whenever things are needed. So that’s what I’ve been doing a majority of the time.

On staying in touch with the players and their families during this time:Swin Cash: I think a lot of it is text. Some calls, but a majority is texts, very similar to the season, but we just don’t have those interactions face to face. Usually I’m at practice, at games, so I get that time I need with the guys. So now it’s just more so – you want it to be organic. I’m not a believer that you should just be checking boxes and every week at this time check in on a player. I think it has to be organic. I think relationships are built on just caring about people, also just giving them their space and their time. Everybody’s dealing with this quarantine in their own way, and some people need to be checked on a little bit more than others. You know that by the relationships that you build and others are just in tune and locked in with their families. You know they’re doing well and you just want to make sure (to be there) if they need anything, support. Our medical staff – I give a shout out to Aaron Nelson and his whole team – they’ve been doing a great job of just making sure that our players have the stuff that they need while they’re in quarantine to prepare themselves just in case we get that call to come back for the season. I think that’s the biggest thing: just making sure that we have the support that they need on all fronts.

On some of the things she and Ramon Sessions have been able to provide the players and their families with during this time:Swin Cash: I think for me when we look at the over-arching team development aspect, we really focus on the standpoint of making sure that we are not only communicating with the guys, but if there’s any information that’s out there in regards to this pandemic and the Covid-19 virus that we’re making sure they’re abreast of that. Also, keeping them in tune on our business side. We’ve launched #HomeTeamTV and I think that’s been important for our guys to understand what that means, not only for the fans but also the community of New Orleans…just sharing a little bit of themselves with them. Also, making sure they’re in the right mental space. If they need to talk about anything, we try to be that resource there. Ramon and I – and Alex (Kaufman) is also part of our team – we are meeting twice a week on Zoom calls to make sure if there’s any new information – any concerns we have, anything we need to kind of dig into a little bit more – that we are taking care of that. I think that’s part of our whole team development department, making sure that our players have resources, they have information. Also, a lot of them want to learn how to support. Some guys have been very public in regards to their contributions. There’s players that have done certain things privately that some of the people don’t know about. So I would just encourage our fans and other people that are out there to understand that some people give publicly, some people give privately, some lead in different ways…but all of our players are just trying to figure out how they can contribute (and) how they can help, whether it’s here, whether it’s in their hometowns. I think that’s where our team development department really comes in and tries to be that resource for them.

On how it feels to have so many players wanting to contribute and give back during this difficult time:Swin Cash: For me, it just really warms my heart. I say it a lot, even around the guys I say it at different times, to whom much is given, much is required. That’s what I kind of lived by throughout my career, playing and then professionally. I try to always let the guys understand that they have a platform, but I’m very respectful of how they want to do things. A lot of times teams only want players to – we have to tell the media, we have to tell the story. Well, there’s always a time and place to tell the story, but some people love to serve in different ways and I’m very respectful of that, just making sure that there’s a happy balance by people knowing. Even when we don’t make it public, I’m able to use my platform and let people know that our players are doing really really amazing things. We should be very proud of this team, because even though they are young – the team that we have – they are understanding in this pandemic and in this moment, truly taking on the pulse and heart of New Orleans. That, to me, is what it’s truly all about.

On what the city of New Orleans has meant to her and her family during her time with the Pelicans: Swin Cash: It’s a city that has embraced not only the team, but myself. Whether I’ve been at a supermarket, jogging down the street, or walking, it’s been amazing to me to have so many people just say, ‘I’m happy you’re here. I’m happy for the Pelicans. You guys are doing an amazing job.’ It’s just the encouragement and the heart of saying, ‘Hey, we’re happy that we have people that want to be here in New Orleans. We want you to be a part of our city.’ That inclusiveness, to me, has been very warming to not only myself, but also my family. My husband, Steve, who travels even for business himself and as an entrepreneur – his level of embracement with this city has been there for a number of years. So I’m finally getting to experience it every single day, whereas he would experience it in-and-out for a lot of different conferences and events that were here. So thank you to New Orleans. Thank you for embracing my family. Thank you for embracing our team. We’re going to continue to get through this and stay together because this is what New Orleans does. It rises together and I feel that every single day.’

On the future of her podcast 'She's got time' during this hiatus:Swin Cash: Yeah. So we've been talking and kicking it around. What I have done before even relaunching the podcast is, every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. central, you can go to my Instagram page @SwinCash, and we have a 'She's Got Time' live session where people just come in, I go live with some of our fans, some of the people that have been following me for so many years. I bring on different friends with different perspectives, different backgrounds that work in different industries. It's people getting an opportunity to talk about how they're dealing with this quarantine, learning new ways, new information. For me, I think the biggest thing with, 'She's Got Time' live at 9 p.m. on my IG, it's really about community. I wanted to have a place and space where people could see (that) I'm going through the same exact thing that you're going through and we are going to get through it together. So, really just putting positive vibes and affirmations out there to the universe. So, people can go like I said to my IG page @SwinCash and definitely catch that. It's kind of funny you brought it up because I was talking to Nico (Nicolò Melli) and anybody – if you're not following Nicolò Melli you should probably follow him on Instagram. He does these 'IG lives' where he's talking I swear in like three or four different languages. So, I finally text him, and I said Nico, I'm following, but you know I cannot understand what you're talking about and you have guests on. And so I was like, ‘There needs to be some subtitles or something.’ It is so funny because he literally was like, ‘Okay.’ I said ‘Well, you're going to jump on my 'IG live' and ‘were going to talk. We're going to speak English with people in New Orleans who have questions for you.’ So, I'm hoping either on the Pelicans or my IG, we're going to be able to get Nico on and have him talk a little bit. But, he's hilarious. So this is the stuff that I see, and just interacting with our guys, it's so fun, and I'm glad that their sharing this experience on social media, and like you said, the podcasts and other platforms. Our guys have been active. They're out there, and the ones that aren't are spending a lot of time with their families and just preparing mentally and physically to get back out there on the court.

On Tamika Catchings being recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:Swin Cash: I was super excited. Catch (Tamika Catchings), and I have been friends for a really, really long time. (We're) really close. And so, the first thing I could just think about was just tears of joy. You think of times being spent through highs and lows, battling with the union, new CBA's. All these different things just kind of stream to your mind. She's been one of the players that has not only been phenomenal on the court but also off the court. I mean the things that she's been able to achieve and continue to inspire so many of the youth that are out there. So, I was truly, truly happy for her. Once we'd text back and forth, she was just like, ‘I know you're going to be there.’ And, I said ‘Absolutely, I wouldn't miss it for the world.’ To be able to stand there and not only support her but an amazing class that really is kind of my era and playing with so many of those players and being around a lot of our guys at USA basketball. So, this is going to be a great class. We're definitely going to have our hearts in a very delicate place because Kobe (Bryant) won't be there. But I know his family, I know Vanessa and his family will definitely be there in support. We're just really blessed to see a lot of great friends, great athletes, and coaches go into the 'Hall' this year.

On your favorite Kobe Bryant memory:Swin Cash: It's so many different basketball memories. I think for me, it's more the interactions. I think more the interactions than USAB. I think it's more of the interactions with Kobe even during the finals when I was in Detroit, and the Pistons were winning their first championship against the Lakers. I mean, he's just a student of the game. He was so professional on every level, and the thing that people don't know about Kobe is that Kobe was watching the women's game before – so many of the different NBA players talk about, ‘All the NBA guys, they're watching the women now.’ The guys have been doing that for a long time, but Kobe was such a big support of Lisa Leslie, WNBA, even back in the day when he was young and we all were coming in together. So, I'm just going to remember my interactions with him, with Vanessa. I'm going to remember one interaction with him. I can't really talk too much about it, but him and Vanessa and seeing them at MJ's (Michael Jordan) birthday party. I think it was MJ's 50th at All-Star. And, I remember we were all there listening to some great music and just kind of chopping it up. It was really a blessing to just be able to see life after sports, and all these different things happened for him. And just definitely want to continue to send my condolences out to his family. Our prayers are always there. And, V (Vanessa), she's so strong, and the girls are going to get through all of this together.

On what to expect tonight from Pelicans Playback:Swin Cash: Yeah. I think what you can expect is just to hear me giving some insight about the game at a very kind of basic level. A lot of times, I feel like people are watching a game if you're not a student, you don't know kind of what DHO's are and this, that, and the other. I try not to talk over people's head, but just try to give people exactly what I see and kind of insight behind it of how we like the play, why this is important, why the timing is important. So I have a lot of fun with it. I think it's a pretty cool, JJ Redick…there is one play you guys are probably going to see in the game that I thought was hilarious because it's definitely a play that I would have done especially being a 'vet,' or I like to say, ‘seasoned player’. So, shootout to JJ. I can't wait for the playback tonight. But, our team was awesome. I really enjoyed watching this game back. You guys are going to see some insight tonight, and I hope you guys will join us.

transcript-swin-cash-on-the-new-orleans-pelicans-podcast-presented-by-seatgeek-april-13-2020

Transcript: Swin Cash on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by SeatGeek - April 13, 2020

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