New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Willie Green on Saturday just after 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, the former head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, as interim coach. The Pelicans next play at home on Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.
“It wasn't really the number of matches won and lost that was the deciding factor,” Dumars said. “We have to determine who will be here in New Orleans in the future, but I just didn't expect that to happen.”
Rather, Dumars saw the team “losing the same thing over and over again.”
“This is not an improvement,” he continued. “We have to make sure we play hard every night. Before you can be anything in this league, you have to establish that first… and that's still what I'm looking for right now.”
Team owner Gail Benson, who has come under increasing public pressure in recent difficult seasons for both the Pelicans and Saints in the NFL, has often spoken glowingly of Green and his family, but said she trusts Dumars to “make the right decisions for our team.”
“I have great admiration and respect for Willie Greene and truly appreciate everything he has done for our organization over the past several years,” Benson said. “It's a tough business and these are tough decisions. I expect the winning team to compete for a championship.”
Borrego was the 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 Orlando's interim head coach during the 2014–15 season.
Dumars said he expects Borrego's promotion to last at least through the end of this season, but couldn't guarantee that “unforeseen” circumstances could change that.
Borrego “previously served as head coach at NBA and understands his job,” Dumars said. “So, we have a lot of faith and confidence in James moving forward.”
Green, hired for his first coaching job in 2021 by former Pelicans director of basketball operations David Griffin, has posted a 150-190 mark in four-plus seasons.
His Pelicans teams have 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.
Green's job in New Orleans was complicated by the frequent absences of star forward Zion Williamson due to injuries. Williamson, Duke's first overall draft pick in 2019 and averaging 24.6 points per game in his career, has played in just 134, or roughly 39%, of the 340 games Green has coached. Williamson missed seven games this season with a foot contusion and then a left hamstring strain.
Dumars, hired to replace Griffin this year, decided this offseason to stick with Green, who was entering his final season on his contract.
“I saw some of the Pelicans players a few years ago when they were fully healthy, and I thought Willie was doing a good job. I thought it would be fair to give him an opportunity,” Dumars said. “It was as simple as: He was here, give him a chance to start over with me, go forward and build.”
Dumars gave Green a roster that included veteran free agents Kevon Looney, Sadiq Bey and Jordan Poole, as well as two first-round draft picks in Jeremiah Fiers (seventh overall) and Derick Queen (13th overall).
The Pelicans opened the regular season with a six-game skid, including three losses by more than 30 points. Green appeared to find his footing briefly as the Pelicans won two straight, but they have since lost four straight, including a 118-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night in the NBA Cup game.
“We don't stick to the status quo. That's just not who we are,” Dumars said. “We can't sit back and we can't sit here and say, 'Well, one day things will get better.' Like, we’re just not going to approach this.”
