Pelicans fire coach Willie Green 12 games into his fifth season, name James Borrego interim coach

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired Willie Green on Saturday on the heels of a 2-10 start to the season.

Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, who announced the coaching change, named top assistant James Borrego, a former Charlotte Hornets head coach, as interim coach. The Pelicans next play at home on Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

“After careful evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at head coach,” Dumars said in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for Willie Green, and I’m sincerely appreciative of his contributions to the Pelicans organization and the New Orleans community.”

Team owner Gayle Benson, who has come under increasing public pressure during recent difficult seasons for both the Pelicans and the NFL’s Saints, often spoke glowingly of Green and his family but said she trusted Dumars “to make the right decisions for our franchise.”

“I have tremendous admiration and respect for Willie Green, and I truly appreciate all he has done for our organization over the last few years,” Benson said. “This is a tough business and these are difficult decisions. My expectation is to be a winning team that competes for championships.”

Borrego was formerly the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets for four seasons from 2018 to 2022. He also served as interim head coach with Orlando during the 2014-15 season.

Green, hired to his first head coaching job in 2021 by former Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin, has gone 150-190 in four-plus seasons.

His Pelicans teams made the playoffs twice, losing in the first round to Phoenix in 2022 and Oklahoma City in 2024. The Pelicans qualified for the Western Conference play-in tournament in 2023 but were eliminated by Oklahoma City.

But Green’s fortunes likely weren’t helped by star power forward Zion Williamson’s frequent injury absences. Williamson — the 2019 first overall draft pick out of Duke who has averaged 24.6 points per game during his career — played in just 134, or about 39%, of the 340 games Green coached. Hampered by a bruised foot, followed by a strained left hamstring, Williamson has missed seven games this season.

Dumars, hired to take over for Griffin this year as Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations, chose this offseason to stick with Green, who was entering his final season under contract.

The Pelicans opened the regular season with a six-game skid that included three 30-plus-point losses. Green seemed to be finding his footing when the Pelicans won two straight, but they have since lost four in a row, including a 118-104 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night in NBA Cup play.

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