In a recent chat with the media, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels opened up about his experience with the New Orleans Pelicans. According to Daniels, he’s relieved to no longer be playing for the “cursed” franchise.
“That organization’s cursed. Every year there’s something new. I’m happy I’m not there anymore,” said Daniels via Jake Fischer. “I had like four or five ankle injuries down there as well. There’s something down in that water down there or something. They got hamstrings. They got knees. They got concussions and stuff as well. They get everything down there. I don’t know what it is. Playing hard I guess?”
There are plenty of NBA teams that have a limited track record of success. In fact, across league history, 10 teams have yet to win the title, including some big-market teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Phoenix Suns. In the case of the Pelicans, however, their struggles have been worse than most.
In the 22 years since their relocation to New Orleans, the franchise’s regular season record stands at 831–937 (. 470) and they’ve qualified for the playoffs just nine times. The Pelicans are just one of six teams in NBA history to have never even reached the NBA Finals. To date, they’ve never even made it out of the second round.
Currently, the Pelicans may be one of the deepest teams in the league on paper but constant setbacks have resulted in a miserable season. At 5-21, they are ranked dead last in the West and are already 8.5 games back from the final play-in spot.
Besides poor chemistry and a flawed rotation, injuries have hurt the Pelicans the most. Dating back to 2008, almost every Pelicans season has been plagued by a large volume of injuries or injuries that occur at critically damaging times.
The 2022-23 campaign was historically bad for the Pelicans, who lost Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and Larry Nance Jr. for a combined 123 games. This season, the trend is holding firm.
Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray, Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, and CJ McCollum have already missed some games just a few weeks into the season and the team has been reeling as a result.
So while it may sound hyperbolic to say the Pelicans are cursed, that’s exactly what it must feel like to their fans and players who have watched their team suffer for decades now. Moreso than most teams, the Pelicans are always dealing with some obstacle and it seems like we never get to see them at full strength.
Until this season, Dyson Daniels was a part of that group and he suffered an unusual amount of injuries himself. Since joining the Hawks, however, his game has reached new heights and he’s currently in the middle of a breakout season with averages of 13.5 points (career high), 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game on 44.7% shooting.
It remains to be seen if the Pelicans can ever get (and stay) healthy but until they do, we’ll likely never see them in a position to make a title run and some believe it’d be best for them to move on and start over.
The Pelicans are off for the next two nights but they resume action on the road on Sunday, against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 5:00 PM EST. After a break for the NBA Cup finals, the Pelicans play again on Tuesday, December 19th, against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
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