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

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

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.

“It really wasn’t the won and lost record as the ultimate determining factor,” Dumars said. “We have to establish who is going to be here in New Orleans going forward and I just did not see that happening.”

Rather, Dumars saw a team “losing the same way, over and over again.”

“That’s not improvement,” he continued. “We have to establish that we’re going to play hard every night. Before you can become anything in this league, you have to establish that first … and that’s still what I’m looking for right now.”

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.”

Borrego was head coach of the Charlotte Hornets for four seasons from 2018 to 2022, going 138-163, including 43-39 in his final season. He also served as interim head coach with Orlando during the 2014-15 season.

“It’s a tough day,” Borrego said. “I’ve been fired. Willie believed in me, trusted me, brought me in. … We all own it. It’s not just on him.”

Dumars said he expects Borrego’s promotion to last at least through the rest of this season but couldn’t guarantee whether “unforeseen” circumstances might change that.

Borrego “has sat in the head-coaching seat before in the NBA and understands the job,” Dumars said. “So, we have great faith and confidence in James.”

Borrego noted that he’s taking over with 70 games remaining in the regular season.

“There’s a lot of basketball to be played here,” he said. “We have time to improve.

“We got to be a more resilient, tough physical group — period — whatever that looks like,” Borrego said. “It’s just a very fluid situation right now.”

Green, hired to his first head coaching job in 2021 by former Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin, went 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.

“Everybody here still has respect for Willie. So, it’s not one of those things where you’re happy to see somebody go,” wing Trey Murphy III said. “But we understand, too, that it’s time to go with James Borrego.”

Green’s job in New Orleans was made more challenging 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 regular season games Green coached — and none of the playoff games.

Williamson has missed seven games this season, hampered first by a bruised foot and then a strained left hamstring.

Dumars, hired to take over for Griffin this year, chose in the offseason to stick with Green, who was entering his final season under contract.

“I’d seen some of the Pelicans when they were fully healthy a few years ago and it seemed that Willy was doing a good job. I thought it was only fair to give him an opportunity,” Dumars said. “It was just as simple as: He’s been here, give him a chance to have a fresh start with me.”

Dumars provided Green with a roster that included the additions of veterans Kevon Looney, Sadiq Bey and Jordan Poole, along with two first-round draft picks — Jeremiah Fears (seventh overall) and Derik Queen (13th overall).

The Pelicans opened the regular season with a six-game skid that included three 30-plus-point losses. Green briefly 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.

“We’re not status quo people. We’re just not,” Dumars said. “We can’t sit on our hands and we can’t sit here and go, ‘Well, it’s going to get better one day.’”

Although Borrego was in his third season on the Pelicans’ staff, he said he expects to explore many potential changes now that he is in charge, perhaps even placing Queen in the starting lineup, given the rookie’s greater-than-expected contributions early this season.

“If you put anybody in this seat, it’s going to have a different feel and flavor,” Borrego said. “We’re different human beings. We tick differently. We see the game a little bit differently.

“I could give you the same menu, but you’re just going to use the menu differently, no matter who it is,” Borrego added. “You’ve got to put your imprint on it. You’ve got to be who you are — and I’m very comfortable with who I am.”

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