The New Orleans Pelicans played their regular-season matchup against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night in South Florida with a heavy heart as their city reels from a terror attack that left more than a dozen dead.
Pelicans head coach Willie Green was among those from the team who spoke out about the attack that took place in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Green said he was “devastated” over it. He said he found out about what occurred in a happy New Year text from his father. The Pelicans play their home games at the Smoothie King Center – about one mile southwest of where the terror attack occurred.
“A senseless act of violence,” Green said. “We’ve discussed it a bit with our players. But we’re just living in times and in a world where you just don’t know where you’re safe.
“Schools, churches, people should be able to go out and have a good time and walk the streets. It’s devastating. And I can only imagine what those families are going through, what they have to deal with now for the rest of their lives.”
Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III said he knew his mother was downtown during the New Year festivities as well as his chef. He said he was scared for their safety but learned they were fine.
“You feel a little sigh of relief,” Murphy said. “But there were a lot of people that didn’t hear that sigh of relief today.”
Murphy added that it was a “true shame.”
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“People try to enjoy themselves and go into the new year with a different mindset and now there are a lot of families that have to deal with this tragedy,” he said. “And I just have a lot of prayers and thoughts going out to those families, because it just doesn’t make sense.
“Stuff like that shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t have to worry about going to Bourbon Street and enjoying yourself, then ending up having to lose a loved one.”
Former NBA player Antonio Daniels was on the call for the Pelicans’ broadcast of the game. He and play-by-play man Joel Meyers expressed their condolences over the attack.
“If you think about what Bourbon Street represents, it’s a place of joy. It’s a place of laughter. It’s a place of marriages, of bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, a place where people come together,” Daniels said. “And like coach Green said, a senseless act of violence comes to try and tear this city apart? My heart hurts. My heart hurts for this city. It’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that this is the dark world that we live in today.”
Miami won the game 119-108.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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