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The New Orleans Pelicans are getting closer to their next head coach. He is a former member of the New Orleans Hornets.
Willie Green, a 12-year NBA veteran who has served as the Phoenix Suns ‘main assistant for the past two years, is the likely choice to become New Orleans’ eighth head coach in history. franchise, a league source confirmed.
ESPN reported on Monday that Green is the Pelicans’ “strong favorite” and “choice to become the franchise’s next head coach.”
No official announcement is expected in the coming days, a league source said. The Green Suns lead 2-1 in the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and his goal is to help Phoenix win their first championship in franchise history.
As a player, Green, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, was a second-round pick that spanned more than a decade in the NBA. His only season in New Orleans was in 2010-11, when he averaged 8.7 points per game for a Hornets team that went 46-36 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Green has a close relationship with former New Orleans head coach Monty Williams. Williams coached Green during his yearlong pit stop in New Orleans, and for the past two years, Green has been Williams’ best lieutenant with the Suns.
Prior to his time in Phoenix, Green was an assistant to the Golden State Warriors. He spent three seasons there, a streak in which the team reached the final three times in a row and won two championships.
Green, 39, cited Steve Kerr and Williams as important influences on him. In an appearance on The Outlet podcast last year, Green explained that his biggest lesson is that “the best coaches aren’t necessarily the ones who talk about Xs and Bones.”
“He does everything from a place of love,” Green said. “People are feeling it. And if I can develop a relationship with the players, the coaches, the front office, and I can be critical but out of love, they can receive it better. It’s not how much I write a play or how much I can take or discipline you. It’s how much people feel you love and care about them.
Green is expected to become the Pelicans’ third head coach in the past three years. Former coach Stan Van Gundy was only in the job for eight months. The Pelicans and Van Gundy “went their separate ways” on June 16. Executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin cited philosophical differences.
“The real problem moving forward is finding someone who you are in tune with,” Griffin said. “And that also includes ownership. It has to be something that we move forward with together and with the same spirit and energy. “
Alvin Gentry and Van Gundy, the team’s two former head coaches, were frustrated with the front office’s involvement in day-to-day operations. This time around Griffin and his likely choice as handpicked new coach Green will have to figure out how to achieve the “shared vision” he covets.
Green will also be tasked with straightening the Pelicans’ defense. They finished 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions in 2019-20, then fell to 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions last season.
New Orleans’ next head coach is under immediate pressure to produce. The Pelicans have had two disappointing seasons since the selection of No.1 Zion Williamson overall, and the talented 20-year-old is eligible for a contract extension in the summer of 2022.
Green, who turns 40 later this month, is set to become the third youngest head coach in the NBA behind Mark Daigneault, 35, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Taylor Jenkins, 36, of the Memphis Grizzlies.
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