Very sad news concerning New Orleans Pelicans former head coach

Wife of former Pelicans head coach killed in crash

 UPDATED 7:27 PM CST Feb 10, 2016                                                     

 

 

 

Monty Williams (2015)

Photos

Things were shaking up over at the Smoothie King Center as well. In May, the New Orleans Pelicans fired head coach Monty Williams. The team earned its first postseason berth in four seasons under Williams in the 2014-15 season. In the end, it wasn't enough for Tom Benson to keep Williams who had been with the team since 2010.

OKLAHOMA CITY —The wife of former Pelicans head coach Monty Williams has died.

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Ingrid Williams, 44, died Wednesday afternoon the day after being involved in a car crash in Oklahoma.
After being fired by the Pelicans last summer, Monty Williams became the associate head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder and relocated his family to Oklahoma City.
Ingrid Williams is survived by Monty and the couple's five children.
The Oklahoma City Thunder released a statement Wednesday evening.
"The Thunder organization has heavy hearts tonight with the news of Ingrid's passing. Words cannot adequately describe how deep our sorrow is for the loss of Monty's wife. Our thoughts and prayers are with Monty and his family, and we will support him in every way possible. We know the entire community of Oklahoma City has them in their prayers."
The Pelicans also released a statement on behalf of owners Tom and Gayle Benson.
“The New Orleans Pelicans are devastated to hear the news of Ingrid Williams’ passing. Ingrid was beloved by the Pelicans organization and the New Orleans community and will forever be remembered as one of the most generous, kind and humble individuals we’ve ever known. Our thoughts and prayers are with Monty Williams and his family during this difficult time.”

If they become the New Orleans Pelicans, this basketball team will be the first named for a Eucharistic symbol

December 8, 2012 By Deacon Greg Kandra

I suspect most fans won’t be aware of this—and it’s probably not the sort of thing franchise owners would publicize—but the folks changing the name of the New Orleans Hornets to the New Orleans Pelicans are giving the team a profoundly Catholic, even Eucharistic, name.
I first posted on this over the summer, referring to the prominent figure on the Louisiana state flag:

According to legend, in a time of famine a mother pelican would draw blood from her own chest and give the blood to her chicks.
Thus the pelican symbol in Christianity, also called pelican-in-her-piety, symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (because he gave his blood for others) as well as the Eucharist (because it represents Christ’s blood and provides spiritual nourishment).

Wikipedia adds:

The flag of Louisiana consists of a heraldic charge called a “pelican in her piety,” representing a mother pelican wounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. This symbol, emblematic of Christian charity, is also found on the state seal. On the flag it is depicted above a ribbon with the state motto: “Union, Justice, and Confidence”. The current flag was adopted in 2006, revising the original pelican design of 1912.
During the 19th century it was traditional in Louisiana flags and the state seal for the “pelican in her piety” to have three drops of blood on her chest.^[1] However, in later years the tradition (on both the state flag and seal) had been haphazardly followed, which was noticed by an eighth-grader at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma who brought this to the attention of his state legislator.^[1] The issue was resolved in April 2006, when the Louisiana State Legislature passed a bill (House Bill 833/Act 92^[2]) which requires three drops of blood to be depicted on the pelican used in both the state’s flag and seal. The new state flag, featuring a new design, was recently unveiled during swearing-in ceremonies of new state officials.

Move over, Padres and Saints (and, by extension I guess, Cardinals). The Catholic sports universe is about to get a little bigger.
Meantime, the benevolent and self-sacrificing ideal of pelican will likely undergo a revamp for basketball fans. One proposed design for the mascot is shown below.



>>>Oh my, the good Deacon Greg from Brooklyn NY beat me to the punch.  Ever since the name Pelicans has been strongly rumored to replace Hornets for or NBA team, I have thought the same exact thing Deacon Greg blogged about today.  With New Orleans already having the Saints, what about the Catholic connection to pelican.  I've blogged about this before and used the pelican and its ties to the Eucharist as the focal point of my Good Friday homily last year.  Here is a picture of the Louisiana state flag now that the blood has been added to the pelican's chest:

New Orleans Hornets just got good; real good!

New Orleans Hornets make Anthony Davis the first pick in the NBA draft

Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012

By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

The New Orleans Hornets ended one month of artificial suspense Thursday night, selecting University of Kentucky power forward Anthony Davis with the first overall pick in the NBA draft, a selection the team hopes results in a sustained turnaround of its on-court fortunes.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, left, poses with the No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis, of Kentucky, who was selected by the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June, 28, 2012, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Davis, 6 feet 10, 220 pounds, was the consensus college player of the year last season as a freshman while leading the Wildcats to the NCAA Championship in the Final Four played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a building that stands adjacent to his new professional home, New Orleans Arena.
NBA rules prohibited the Hornets from publicly stating their intentions to draft Davis prior to Thursday night's ESPN national cablecast and the made-for-television announcement by Commissioner David Stern.
But since the Hornets won the NBA Lottery on May 29, there was no doubt that Davis, 19, would be the first overall choice.
Davis visited just one team – the Hornets – on June 19, a trip that allowed Davis to acquaint himself with the team's Alario Center practice facility, as well as meet new owner Tom Benson, while getting the opportunity to dine at some of the city's noted restaurants.
"We're thrilled to welcome Anthony to the Hornets family," General Manager Dell Demps said in a release issued by the team. "Anthony is an incredible person and very talented basketball player. We look forward to him being a part of the sustained success of our franchise on and off the court going forward."
Said Coach Monty Williams: "We have added an incredibly talented, athletic big man with great length who is also a proven winner. In getting to know him, he's also a high-character kid and someone I look forward to help develop further."
"The first thing I said was if I get drafted here, it would be great to win another championship in New Orleans," Davis said during his visit last week. "Great city. If I get drafted (here), it would be awesome."
Davis did not work out for the Hornets, or any other NBA team in the weeks leading up to the draft.
In his one season at Kentucky, Davis averaged 14.2 points per game and 10.4 rebounds, while leading the nation in blocked shots, averaging 4.7 per game. A one-time, 6-3 point guard who went through a dramatic growth spurt before being recruited at Kentucky, Davis can handle the ball as well. Davis shot 62 percent from the field last season.
Virtually every scouting service has rated Davis as the only "can't miss" prospect in Thursday night's draft.
NBA Director of Scouting Ryan Blake said Davis' skill set measurables were unlike any other draft prospect in the last decade.
"His numbers are off our charts," Blake said.

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Donna Hilliard and Cheryl Varnado, bottom front, help lead the stands in cheering and yelling as the New Orleans Hornets select Anthony Davis as the first pick of the draft on Thursday, June 28, 2012. Fans gathered at the New Orleans Arena for the announcement.

This is the second time in Hornets' team history that they've had the No. 1 overall draft choice. The first was in 1991 when the team, then located in Charlotte, drafted Larry Johnson, a power forward from Nevada-Las Vegas.
Under terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, Davis will earn a base salary this season of $4,286,900 in his rookie season. That salary escalates to $4,479,800 in his second season and $4,672,700 in his third, which is at the team's option. Because of Davis's placement in the draft as the first overall pick, however, he could earn up to 20 percent more each season than the base salary contained in the rookie scale of the CBA.
 This week, to protect his financial rights, Davis and his family took steps to trademark references to "unibrow," a sobriquet by which Davis has become known because of the lack of a gap between his eyebrows.
Asked during the ESPN draft telecast about the move and what it might mean monetarily, Davis told an interviewer: "Who doesn't like money?"
As Stern announced the Hornets' pick, three minutes into the five minutes each team is allotted to make a decision in the first round, Davis, wearing a gray suit and a Kentucky blue-and-white striped dress shirt, hugged his mother and father, as well as his college coach, John Calipari, before making his way to the stage to shake Stern's hand and pose with the one-time Hornets' owner.
"I just want to come in and do the best I can," Davis told a television interviewer. "I know Coach (Monty) Williams is a great coach and he's got the best intentions for me. So when I go down there, I'm going to do whatever he wants me to do and try to be a team leader."
Asked how his shot-blocking ability might translate into the NBA, Davis said, "It's going to be very difficult. Guys are very crafty and use a lot of ball fakes. They're professionals and they do this for a living. So I'll just try to get used to what a guy's tendencies are, and try to block them then."

Great news for New Orleans Hornets

New Orleans Hornets win top pick in NBA Draft

The New Orleans Hornets hit the jackpot Wednesday night, winning the top pick in the NBA Draft Lottery.

The worst teams in the NBA went into the evening hoping for the best of luck in the lottery, which determines the order of the league's June 28 draft of college (and a few high school) players. The lottery was held at ABC's "Good Morning America" studio in New York.
The lottery is weighted, so the team with this season's worst record, the Charlotte Bobcats, had the best chance of getting the coveted No. 1 pick. But it's not a sure thing, as the Hornets' prize illustrates. The Hornets had the fourth-worst record this season but will select first; the Bobcats will choose second. Last year, the league's eighth-worst team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, won the lottery and were able to grab top-rated Duke point guard Kyrie Irving. The Cavaliers were in the lottery again this year, as they failed to reach the playoffs despite having Irving.
Kentucky power forward Anthony Davis is widely expected to be the first pick in this year's draft. Other top prospects include Kansas power forward Thomas Robinson, Kentucky small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson now owner of NBA New Orleans Hornets too

Tom Benson buys the New Orleans Hornets from the NBA

Published: Friday, April 13, 2012, 12:59 PM     Updated: Friday, April 13, 2012, 2:04 PM

By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune New York - The NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets have been sold to Saints owner Tom Benson for a price sources said is $338 million.

Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneTom Benson, the new owner of the New Orleans Hornets, said one of his first priorities will be changing the team's nickname to something that has more of a New Orleans flavor.

 

Benson is the sole owner and no partners are involved.
"I'm not too good with partners," Benson said.
Benson, who initially bid to purchase the team in January but was put off by the league's asking price, said Friday he was worried that other absentee ownership groups might attempt to move the team out of the city, despite a new lease agreement that will bind the Hornets to New Orleans Arena through the 2024 season.
One of the bidding groups, headed by California swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal, included Benson's youngest brother, Larry, a San Antonio automobile dealer.
"I told Larry I was a little bit concerned, even though he said he wasn't going to do it, the first downturn he'd be looking to go to California or some place," Benson said in his suite at the St. Regis Hotel where the meeting took place. "That wasn't very good.
"We really never stopped talking to them (the NBA). With out of state owners. . . . I called David (Stern, NBA commissioner) and said, 'Look I'm the only guy you can count on who's really going to stay here. Let's work this thing out.' "
Benson said he would assume $125 million of the team's current debt and Friday morning wired a deposit to the league to consummate the transaction.
Benson and the NBA agreed in principle to the deal at about midnight Thursday night, and he signed the official paperwork shortly before 11 a.m. local time Friday morning in his hotel room.
Dennis Lauscha, the Saints' executive vice president and chief financial officer, will oversee the operations of both clubs in that capacity, while Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis will do the same for each team, though the Hornets will have their own management team overseeing their operation.
"We're going to operate this as a separate unit altogether," Benson said. "I don't see right now that we're going to be able to interlock a lot of stuff. That doesn't mean that these guys right here and Mickey Loomis is a good basketball guy, certainly won't have some input. We're going to have a management staff there just like you do in any other business.
"In the automobile business, we've got a management staff on board and in the banking deal, we've got a president and they operate the bank, our real estate holdings the same thing. So where Dennis is involved in a lot of things, he'll have somebody he's talking to or working with. That's what we need to do. "
Benson said he is also trying to change the name of the NBA team to better fit the ambience, culture and charm of New Orleans.
"We need to find a name like (Jazz)," Benson said, referring to New Orleans first NBA team that relocated to Salt Lake City in 1979. "Whether we can get that or let us use that, you've got to know we're working on it. We'd like to change it tomorrow. We have not gotten that approved, but we're not letting up on it, either. Because we've got a good relationship with the commissioner and his people and we're going to be on them daily to do something."
The NBA purchased the Hornets from founding owner George Shinn in December 2010 for about $318 million when it appeared Shinn might sell to investors who planned to move the team out of New Orleans.
Stern then appointed native New Orleanian Jac Sperling to broker a deal that could secure a local owner, a new lease agreement with the state of Louisiana, and at the same time seek to improve the financial condition of the club.
On March 16, the Hornets and state announced an agreement for a new lease, void of escape clauses, contingent upon finding a new owner, and legislative approval of $40 million in capital outlays to improve New Orleans Arena and give the Hornets new revenue streams that would end state subsidies and the extension of a quality jobs tax credit.
Benson said he'd spoken with Gov. Bobby Jindal on Friday morning, as well as New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu who both expressed excitement about the news of his acquisition.
Benson also spoke with Saints quarterback Drew Brees, currently in negotiation with the Saints for a long-term contract, and he said Brees also endorsed Benson's Hornets' ownership.
"I talked to Drew Brees this morning and he's very happy about it," Benson said. "He and I told each other that he's going to get in here and we're going to work his deal out and we're going to get it behind us."

Deacon Mike: but what about the Hornets?

Sources: Clippers, Hornets agree

Paul

The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a deal in principle with the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to acquire guard Chris Paul, according to sources close to the process.
The Clippers, sources said, will send guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick to the Hornets for Paul.
The Clippers will also receive two future second-round picks, according to sources.
The deal is expected to be approved by the league Wednesday night, sources said.
Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com.
Follow Marc Stein on Twitter: @ESPNSteinLine



So here's the deal: I indeed comment frequently on my religion blog about the two things I deeply love in sports: The elite LSU Tigers and the Super Bowl 44 World Champion New Orleans Saints.  Lo and behold, I have never, ever posted a thing on here about the New Orleans Hornets.  What's up with that.

In short, I'm not a big NBA fan but I have loved the fact that we do have a NBA franchise here and it has actually competed at a high level for a couple of the years it has been here.  Not long ago the Hornets actually won a playoff series and last year pushed the LA Lakers in round 1 including an elusive victory in the City of Angeles.

The history of the Hornets in New Orleans is unique in that their arrival was quite unexpected.  We actually became a destination city as the former owners of the Hornets choose New Orleans over Charlotte, North Carolina because of a stadium dust up.  The hero in the early days was a guy named Baron Davis; long gone by now.  The coaching carousel and some awful player personnel moves made the Hornets a bit of a joke and then came Hurricane Katrina.  The Hornets had to play two entire seasons in Oklahoma City and rumors were rampant that we would eventually lose the team to the Okie city.  It most assuredly did not happen but at least our visit there was te impetus for the current Oklahoma City franchise.  But I digress.

The Hornets, now bragging on Chris Paul and with an always good David West, along with the short visit from center Tyson Chandler made this squad better than average.  Under coach Byron Scott, things went well and the team did ok.  In the past year or so, the Hornets and coach Scott parted ways and the owner could not sell the team.  All of a sudden the New Orleans Hornets are owned by the NBA and still no owner emerges.  Contract issues regarding the teams elite players, Chris Paul and David West, were looming and no owner in sight.  And then there was the pesky issue of could New Orleans support this team?  Attendance figures caught the eye of the NBA leadership and some NBA hungry communities across the US of A.  Then a confusing series of events happened.

Inspired by a very good GM, Dale Demps and a more than competent coach in Monty Williams.  With some decent talent added to the lineup, the owner-less Hornets managed a 46-36 record, the crowds started to come and things were looking up.  A brilliant marketing campaign and a strong push by the corporate community helped push the Hornets above and beyond the 10,000 season ticket mark as the 2011-2012 run would began.

Wait a minute.  NBA lockout, still no owner, David West is done and Chris Paul let's it be known this would be his last year in New Orleans; no matter what.  Realizing that simply losing Paul to free agency would decimate the Hornets, trade efforts began on all fronts and it seemed Paul was headed to the Knicks(rumor mill only) the Celtics(again wishful thinking by someone) the Lakers(actually traded and then rescinded by NBA commish) and the Clippers(not the first time but finally tonight).  So all reports indicate Chris Paul will be gone once the NBA formally blesses this trade.  Oh yea, earlier this week we also lost David West to the Indiana Pacers.

Now here is where my NBA expertise goes south.  The Hornets received 3 players from the Clippers and a #1 pick for next year.  These 3 players all seem to have significant upside.  Thank goodness the Hornets received these guys because now the Hornets at least have enough players to field a team.  You see, without Paul to count on, the Hornets had about 6 or 7 legitimate players in uniform and under contract.  Now, the Hornets can move forward and build what they can around a franchise that does not have David West and Chris Paul.

Tonight I'm wondering what those 10,000 season ticket purchasing fans are thinking.  This was a legitimate push by a still beleagured community to support this franchise, impress the NBA and entice someone to buy this team and keep it here in New Orleans.  Will this cadre of players keep our interest?  Time will tell.  Can Demps add more talent to this team?  Can Williams coach this squad up to at least be competitive?  I hope so.

And maybe this won't be my last post about the New Orleans Hornets.

And by the way; so long David West and Chris Paul; you were great for New Orleans Hornets basketball and the community in general.  You will be missed!

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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