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00:00The way they run it is a disaster.
00:03And then they fired Griffin today.
00:04What is going on with their NBA team down there?
00:08Because I think it's like almost like on fire.
00:13The Pelicans are in a perpetual state of malaise.
00:17You know, it's just – and I think you're right in the sense that, you know,
00:22what direction is this team going in?
00:25The six years of David Griffin were ultimately a failure.
00:28The hope and optimism that came with the drafting of Zion Williamson,
00:32all of that is gone now.
00:34And I think that there are – the organization, the fan base,
00:37everyone is just incredibly divided on what the next step should be
00:41because this team has never charted a clear course.
00:44And you could say that's been the story for the entirety of the Benson regime.
00:49Since they've taken over, this team has only won one playoff series.
00:54Since this team has been in New Orleans, they've won a grand total of two playoff series.
00:57And, yes, they've squandered some of the best players that you possibly could name.
01:03When you talk about giving up on Chris Paul so early in his career,
01:06he's played twice as long the rest of his career in other places than he did in New Orleans.
01:11But New Orleans has never been as successful as it was with him.
01:14To watch Anthony Davis go and win a championship, to watch Drew Holiday,
01:18to win two championships in other places.
01:20Even J.J. Redick, who was a player in New Orleans,
01:22going on and being a successful head coach somewhere else.
01:25Look at him.
01:26It's just – it's so frustrating.
01:29And it's kind of like – and the interest – the arena is bad.
01:35The interest is waning.
01:36There just needs to be an injection of life and energy and hope
01:40because this is kind of like what the Clippers were from the 80s through almost 2000.
01:46You know, when it's just – they were constantly getting number one picks.
01:49They were – occasionally they would make the playoffs,
01:51like when they had that team with Doc Rivers and Ron Harper and stuff like that.
01:54And you would think they were going to get out of it.
01:56But the Clippers were going to be the Clippers.
01:58And I think that, you know, that's what the Pelicans are,
02:00is that people just expect no matter what advantages that you give the New Orleans Pelicans,
02:05they will find a way to squander it.
02:06So, listen, I'm down there, right?
02:08And I'm chilling the most.
02:09And I swear to God, I said this.
02:12We were in the van, like, I don't know, going whatever.
02:16Mafia may have been with me or not.
02:19I said, listen, this team – we drove out of the arena and went,
02:22man, no one even cares about this team.
02:25I go, like, all people care about here is eating and going out and good music
02:30and eating and getting effed up.
02:32There is no one that wants to go to those games.
02:36Their franchise is dead in the water.
02:38You might as well be in the middle of the Mississippi drowning.
02:40I think it's in trouble.
02:42Like, I legitimately think they're in trouble.
02:45Like, there are a lot of cities that want NBA teams.
02:48And I think, respectfully, because I really like your town,
02:52I think it – I've been there for a lot.
02:54I've been there for a lot of Super Bowls.
02:56I've been there for a lot of NCAA basketball championships.
02:58The favorite of mine, Indiana, beating Syracuse in 87,
03:01the last game I ever covered for Bob Knight.
03:03I love New Orleans.
03:05But I think they got a problem.
03:07I really do.
03:08I said to Mafia Redunner, I go,
03:09there's no reason for this franchise to be here anymore.
03:12It's dead.
03:13It's dead.
03:15And I think that the foot of that falls mostly at what the ownership has been.
03:19You know, I remember when this team moved here,
03:21George Shin, who's one of the worst owners in NBA history,
03:25really did a horrible job insulting the ground,
03:28just kind of burning bridges with people.
03:31He made no friends locally.
03:33Then the league goes into – the team goes into receivership,
03:35where the league owns them for a couple of years.
03:37And then you sell to the Bensons on the cheap because they were the only people locally
03:41who kind of had any money.
03:43And they've not really treated this team the way it should be.
03:46You know, they've been, as has been reported plenty of times,
03:51treated as the stepchild to the New Orleans Saints.
03:53This is a community at a state that has a rich basketball history.
03:59Louisiana has one of the best basketball histories you could look at.
04:02And yet, there has never been a sustained success for basketball.
04:07Whether you talk about the New Orleans Jazz,
04:09they were never treated properly while here, playing in the cavernous Superdome
04:13or playing in, you know, ballrooms and things like that.
04:16They weren't treated properly.
04:18So, they leave and go to Utah where they've had success by and large.
04:22Now, with the Pelicans slash Hornets, again, bad ownership, bad leadership, bad decisions.
04:28I can tell you that I've heard from some fans who have said,
04:32maybe we just don't do basketball well professionally.
04:36I've even had people say, could we trade the basketball team for a hockey team?
04:39This is New Orleans.
04:41And people are asking about a hockey team.
04:44That's how bad it's gotten.