The New Orleans Pelicans performed their regular-season matchup in opposition to the Miami Warmth on Wednesday evening in South Florida with a heavy coronary heart as their metropolis reels from a terror assault that left greater than a dozen useless.
Pelicans head coach Willie Inexperienced was amongst these from the staff who spoke out in regards to the assault that happened within the early hours of New Yr’s Day.
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Signage for Bourbon Road is displayed on the scoreboard on the Kaseya Heart as a tribute for individuals killed after a automobile drove right into a crowd in New Orleans earlier than an NBA basketball recreation between the Miami Warmth and the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 in Miami. (AP Picture/Lynne Sladky)
Inexperienced mentioned he was “devastated” over it. He mentioned he discovered about what occurred in a contented New Yr textual content from his father. The Pelicans play their residence video games on the Smoothie King Heart – about one mile southwest of the place the fear assault occurred.
“A mindless act of violence,” Inexperienced mentioned. “We have mentioned it a bit with our gamers. However we’re simply dwelling in occasions and in a world the place you simply don’t know the place you’re protected.Â
“Colleges, church buildings, individuals ought to have the ability to exit and have a very good time and stroll the streets. It is devastating. And I can solely think about what these households are going by, what they should take care of now for the remainder of their lives.”
Pelicans ahead Trey Murphy III mentioned he knew his mom was downtown throughout the New Yr festivities in addition to his chef. He mentioned he was scared for his or her security however discovered they have been positive.
“You’re feeling a bit of sigh of aid,” Murphy mentioned. “However there have been lots of people that did not hear that sigh of aid right this moment.”
New Orleans Pelicans gamers stand throughout a tribute on the Kaseya Heart for individuals killed after a automobile drove right into a crowd in New Orleans earlier than an NBA basketball recreation between the Miami Warmth and the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 in Miami. (AP Picture/Lynne Sladky)
Murphy added that it was a “true disgrace.”
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“Individuals attempt to take pleasure in themselves and go into the brand new 12 months with a special mindset and now there are a number of households that should take care of this tragedy,” he mentioned. “And I simply have a number of prayers and ideas going out to these households, as a result of it simply doesn’t make sense.Â
“Stuff like that shouldn’t occur. You shouldn’t have to fret about going to Bourbon Road and having fun with your self, then ending up having to lose a cherished one.”
Former NBA participant Antonio Daniels was on the decision for the Pelicans’ broadcast of the sport. He and play-by-play man Joel Meyers expressed their condolences over the assault.
Sugar Bowl followers from the College of Georgia and Notre Dame cease to take photographs as New Orleans police and federal brokers examine a suspected terrorist assault on Bourbon Road in New Orleans on New Yr’s Day on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate through AP)
“If you consider what Bourbon Road represents, it’s a spot of pleasure. It’s a spot of laughter. It’s a spot of marriages, of bachelorette events, bachelor events, a spot the place individuals come collectively,” Daniels mentioned. “And like coach Inexperienced mentioned, a mindless act of violence involves try to tear this metropolis aside? My coronary heart hurts. My coronary heart hurts for this metropolis. It’s unlucky. It’s unlucky that that is the darkish world that we stay in right this moment.”
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Miami gained the sport 119-108.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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