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 recovers from a terrorist attack that left more than a dozen dead.
Pelicans head coach Willie Green was among the team members who spoke out about the attack that took place in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
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Bourbon Street signs are displayed on the Kaseya Center scoreboard as a tribute to those who died after a vehicle plowed into a crowd in New Orleans before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, January 1. 2025 in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Green said he was “devastated” by it. He said he found out what happened in a Happy New Year text message from his father. The Pelicans play their home games at the Smoothie King Center, about a mile southwest of where the terrorist attack occurred.
“A senseless act of violence,” Green said. “We’ve discussed it a little bit with our players. But we live in times and a world where you just don’t know where you’re safe.
“Schools, churches, people should be able to go out, have a good time and walk the streets. It’s devastating. And I can only imagine what those families are going through, what they’re going to have to deal with now for the rest of their lives. “.
Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III said he knew his mother and chef were at the center during the New Year’s festivities. He said he feared for their safety, but learned they were okay.
“You feel a little sigh of relief,” Murphy said. “But there were a lot of people who didn’t hear that sigh of relief today.”
New Orleans Pelicans players stand during a tribute at the Kaseya Center for the people who died after a vehicle struck a crowd in New Orleans before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, January 1, 2025 in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Murphy added that it was a “real shame.”
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“People are trying to have fun and face the new year with a different mindset and now there are many families who have to deal with this tragedy,” he said. “And I have a lot of prayers and thoughts for those families, because it just doesn’t make sense.
“Things like that shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t have to worry about going to Bourbon Street and having fun and then end up losing a loved one.”
Former NBA player Antonio Daniels was on the call for the broadcast of the Pelicans game. He and play-by-play player Joel Meyers expressed their condolences for the attack.
University of Georgia and Notre Dame Sugar Bowl fans stop to take photos as New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a suspected terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year’s Day Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 . (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)
“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 weddings, bridal showers, bachelor parties, a place where people come together,” Daniels said. “And like Coach Green said, a senseless act of violence is coming to try to 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 we live in today”.
Miami won the game 119-108.
