The young franchise, the New Orleans Pelican, has not had much success in the NBA.
To be fair, the New Orleans Pelican has had a significant share of star power over the years so you can’t blame the players for that.
Whether it’s Chris Paul, Anthony Davis or Zion Williamson, the Pelicans are blessed with extremely talented stars.
However, the presence of an elite head coach is extremely important to running a team like an oiled machine. Come to think of it, let’s take a look at current head coach Willie Greene’s NBA experience.
After announcing his retirement as an NBA player, Green joined the Golden State Warriors as an assistant/player development coach in 2018.
But a year later, Green joined the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach. He lasted for two years in Toronto, then won a head coaching job with the Pelican.
Now Green is the head coach of the Pelicans for four seasons, leading him to an overwhelming 148-180 record during the regular season.
The Pelicans made two postseason appearances under Greene, but every time they faced the first round exit in the playoffs.
But to be fair, the injury to the star keeps the greens down from gaining full potential on the roster. It will be interesting to see if the 2025-26 season will be different.
Before becoming an NBA coach, Green enjoyed 12 years of stints in the league as a shooting guard. Given that he was his 41st overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Greene has left the bench for much of his career.
He was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics, but Green spent the first seven years of his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers. He averaged 9.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per team game.
Next he stinted for a year with the New Orleans Hornets (Pelicans) and the Atlanta Hawks. But by the time Green left the Hawks he was already in decline.
He still had two years of stints with the Los Angeles Clippers before playing for the Orlando Magic last season.