ESPN's Marc Spears talks Pels' offseason, Jeremiah Fears, Joe Dumars | Pelicans Podcast

On the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast for Friday, July 18, 2025, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell are joined by ESPN Senior NBA writer Marc Spears to discuss the Pelicans' offseason as Pelicans Summer League concludes tonight against the Indiana Pacers.

Spears details what impressed him in a pre-draft sit down with rookie Jeremiah Fears and gives his thoughts after having lunch with Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars.

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
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Hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and those who
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(00:27):
The New Orleans Pelicans Podcaststarts right now.
Hello everybody, welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast,
the official podcast of your NewOrleans Pelicans.
Mr. Jim, I can offer pelicans.com, Gus, Kat and Gill
with you. It's the end of summer league,
Jim. It seems like just yesterday I

(00:47):
was like, oh, the draft is coming up.
Draft is here. Oh, summer league is coming up
and we're we're in the books, man. 5th game is later today
here for the Pelicans as they look for their first win there
And again, as we've been talkingabout and discussing summer
league, trying to find out what you got with some of these draft
picks, trying to see if some guys that maybe are pushing for

(01:09):
jobs or opportunities to be invited to training camp and all
that. So you have all of that going on
in background. Of course you want wins, teams O
and four, but there's some things to take out of it.
The last effort they were back on the court was Wednesday in
the second-half of a back-to-back Jeremiah Fears 22
points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. Tray Alexander 25 points, 3

(01:30):
assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals. Those two were the top in terms
of statistics and stuff. They did fall to OKC 95 to 81.
Your overall thoughts when you saw that man?
I asked you when I saw you in the studio before we got
started, and the first thing yousaid was actually name it was
Jeremiah Fevers. Yes, I mean, I've been very

(01:50):
vocal since draft night about how he was the guy that I wanted
the Pelicans to pick at #7 wasn't sure that was going to
happen. But when they picked him, I was
really excited about it. You know, I think through the
first couple Summer League games, you're seeing some of the
struggles that he had with turnovers and maybe efficiency
shooting wise. But to me Wednesday night, he

(02:11):
kind of put a lot of stuff all together.
I thought we saw his penetrationskills of being able to get to
the basket again. That was really the second night
in a row that he did that reallywell.
I thought the biggest improvement that he made against
the Thunder though, was his passing that he would, you know
what you mentioned the six assists.
It just seemed like he had his head up a little bit more kind
of reading the defense better, kind of scanning the the court

(02:34):
and seeing guys cutting for openthrees are are cutting to the
basket. So, you know, I, I remember we
talked about before, I think even before summer league
started, that one of the things I was most interested to watch
with him was how he would go back and forth between scoring
and distributing. And it seemed like the the game
Wednesday was the best that he had done that where he gave you

(02:54):
both, he gave you, you know, I can pick the defense apart with
some of my passing and I can also, you know, go right at that
guy's get to the rim and score that way.
But I mean, he's going to he talks about it a little bit with
Aaron Summers in the interview that he did Wednesday.
But to me, the more teams are worried about everything that
you can do, the more dangerous you get.

(03:15):
Because if you watched him play the first couple games, I think
in general, if you're a defense,you're saying we just have to
stop him from driving because that's what he's trying to do.
Whereas against OKC it was like,if you're just playing him to
score, now he's finding other guys for open shots as well.
So I mean that just makes him a more effective offensive player.

(03:36):
The fact that he was able to notjust rely on his scoring, but he
hurt the OKC defense in other ways as well.
I can teach certain things, I can't teach others.
Intangibles is something we're always touch on.
And then there's just certain athletic, physical traits, man,
that quickness, that ability, attack the rim.
And I just love I, I love the pace that he plays with and all

(03:56):
those things. Here's Aaron Summers, as he
talked about after the game, hada chance to catch up with
Jeremiah Fears. Put together what looked like
your best game so far in Summer League, the way you took the
court tonight, what was different about it?
I'm just trying to learn some from every game and carrying it
on from game to game. Just trying to keep getting
better every single game. People say the game slows down a
little bit. You kind of feel like you've

(04:17):
caught on to maybe the speed, the athleticism that you're
seeing out here. Yes, for sure.
I would say probably a little bit in the second-half for the
second game, I kind of start to figure out the pace and the game
starts slowing down. What is the balance between
being assertive, getting to the hoop, and then obviously trying
to set up your teammates as well?
I'm just learning when to pick your spots, when to kind of take
the shot and when to get your teammates involved.

(04:38):
And getting your teammates involved really is going to help
you and the team as well. Level of physicality.
I mean, you're not afraid obviously to to go inside and go
up and you're finishing out there.
How has that been as an adjustment?
I'm really just learning. It's the guys are a lot more
athletic, so just learning kind of where to put it on the
backboard and how high to get itjust so you get a ball chance

(04:59):
and opportunity to go in. Maybe not the wins and losses
you want, but it's about learning here, Coach Brews.
And then you're what do you think you've made the most
growth over the last four games just as a person and learning
what's going to be required fromyou in the NBA?
Just continuing to be vocal. You got to lead as a point
guard, especially in the NBA. I'm just continuing to be vocal
and trying to learn every singlegame, learning my teammates and

(05:21):
learning kind of what positions and what spots they like to be
in and try to help put them in those positions.
Got you. Then learning off the court,
getting your mentality right, your nutrition.
Has there been anything you've learned there?
And there may be a vet that's helped you, you know, get up to
speed. Just continue to eat the right
stuff, kind of actually nutrition is kind of what you
should be putting in your body, how many calories you can take
and just continue to take your vitamins, your daily shakes and

(05:44):
smoothies as well. Jimmy spoke for a minute 44.
In that minute 44, there's so many things that if I'm a Pells
fan or just somebody has cover his team, you have to at least
grin because you like hearing it.
He's specific when he's talking about some of the things he
wants to do when learning get better and is learning as these

(06:04):
games have gone on in order to help team and his teammates.
Just things like where you put it off the board, where you are
are putting the ball in the passand things of that nature.
And then he gets into, you know,specifics just like, you know,
leading and and wanting to do that already.
You know, he's hasn't even played a real NBA game just yet.

(06:26):
He's been in on a court wearing a Pell's jersey four times.
But he's already thinking of thethings you have to do to be a
leader, a better leader, things to lead with.
And then thirdly, the nutrition aspect of it.
CJ McCollum was one of those players that really were the
last couple of seasons while he was here, Jim, it, he was very

(06:49):
vocal about, hey, winning takes this, this, this, this, this,
this, this and this. It's not just, hey, get on the
court and make plays. You have to eat well, you have
to work out, you have to sleep. You have to be in the right
mindset. You have to be at peace.
You have to. There's so many things there.
And he's absolutely right. It's all of those combinations.

(07:10):
I mean, you almost maniacal whenyou're a champion or a great,
aren't you? Because you sacrifice what
normal people would normally do.You eat a certain way.
You, you spend probably more time than others on aspects of
it, like people that win, win consistently or win at the
highest level. It's almost maniacal.

(07:30):
I mean, you, you have to understand there's a lot of
things that go into quote, UN quote winning.
Sure. I mean, it's one of those things
where people say that you win a game in the day or two before it
starts. You don't just show up if if you
decide 10 minutes before the game, oh, we got a game tonight,
maybe I should get ready. Like it's too late by that
point. It's it's kind of like a 24 hour

(07:53):
thing where you have to be thinking at least in the back of
your mind about the game that you you have tonight or tomorrow
night and be ready that way. So yeah, I, I'm, I'm with you on
that. I think too for fears just in in
one tangible thing that he talked about, you know, you
mentioned finishing shots aroundthe basket, put the ball up
higher on the glass, that kind of thing.

(08:13):
I think if you watched the firstfour games of Summer League 2,
one thing I noticed in the firstcouple games, especially against
Minnesota and a little bit against the Lakers as well as
that, not just Fears, but Derek Queen and some other players,
they got their shot blocked a lot.
And it seemed like that went away completely for Fears in the
last game or two where not all of a sudden he's not getting his

(08:34):
shot rejected as he gets used tothe size and athleticism of some
of the bigger guys and just whatit takes to get your shot off.
So I mean, we, we see his athleticism, we see his
quickness. It doesn't surprise me at all
that he's been able to kind of rapidly figure out, OK, this is
what I have to do to be able to score in the paint at his size
of 6/3. And a guy who is strong but is

(08:56):
going to probably put on more muscle and, and weight as he
gets older. He's only 18.
So I mean, I think that's something that really stood out
to me is that a bunch of those plays went away that we saw a
lot in the game against the T Wolves and the Lakers.
And then secondly, when he's talking about his scoring and
passing to me, I think you quickly realize, especially when

(09:17):
you go from college, where you probably can, relatively
speaking, do whatever you want and get into the paint and
nobody's going to stop you. Nobody's going to block your
shot. You quickly realize when you go
to play in the NBA that if you're trying to to run up
against the wall constantly, if you're trying to play that way,
it gets really hard. So if you can kind of give
yourself a little bit of a release valve, like make life

(09:38):
easy for yourself. Find a guy.
If there's two guys that come upon you, look and find the open
guy. It'll just the game will just be
so much easier if you do that. And it seemed like he kind of
grasped that really well in the game against OK C.
So you're not going to be able to live, I mean, unless you're
Russell Westbrook. And even then, I'm sure Russell
Westbrook would tell you that you can't just drive 35 * a game

(10:02):
and think that the results are always going to be good when
you're going to get up against this kind of size and
athleticism. So to see him kind of diversify
the way he played offensively tome was a really good sign.
But just overall, I mean, to me,I thought there were so many
times last night where I'm watching the game and maybe I'm
biased because I, as I said, I was a huge Jeremiah Fears
believer at the very start, before he even had any

(10:24):
connection with New Orleans. But there were multiple times
last night where I was like, yes, this is the 7th.
This is why he's picked 7th in the draft.
This is why people said that he was a top five potential
prospect before the Pelicans getting ended up getting him at
#7. Well, everything you said and
kind of the things that I mentioned here as well about
fears, that probably goes to whyand what specifically Joe Dumars

(10:46):
was saying when he specifically said basketball IQ, because
everything you're just said, that's basketball.
Like he's understanding the game, learning from it, learning
on the fly, applying it immediately, all those things.
I'm excited to see it. You're going to be excited if
you're a Pels fan because we gota special treat for you.
Mark Spears, senior NBA writer for Anscape and ESPN, actually
sat down with Jeremiah Fears before the draft to find out

(11:09):
what kind of player he was. And wait till you hear that
That's coming up here in about two minutes.
But I do want to touch on a one other thing, as you mentioned
that if I'm a Palace fail, look,Derrick Queen, Mike Appeva
didn't play on Wednesday. We'll see if they play on
Friday, but on Tuesday, Derrick Queen had a great game.
I mean, he he looked like, you know, the player that Joe Dumars

(11:30):
and M described, they talked about he was doing a handful of
different things, bringing the ball up the court.
I mean just doing a lot of different things Wednesday
Jeremiah fears looks that way. If I'm a Pels fan from first
game to their maybe last game and I don't know who's playing
today, but I I I'm I I'm excited, right.
Would you agree with that When you kind of look in its totality
of it A. 100% I mean, that's actually what the main thing

(11:53):
that I wrote Wednesday after thegame against OKC was really that
on Tuesday, Derek Queen showed you what he can do.
On Wednesday, Jeremiah Fears showed his potential and his
upside as well. So, yeah, it's exciting to see
those guys, not just the progress that they made from the
start of summer League through the 4th game, but just, I mean,
they they both had stretches where again, it's things that

(12:16):
you can't teach. You can't teach a guy to be
quick and be able to get into the paint the way that Jeremiah
Fears can against NBA defenses. And just Derrick Queens just
varied skill set were some of his footwork, some of his moves
off the dribble, some of his hook shots, some of his
crossovers that he had on the baseline.
There was a stretch between the first end of the first quarter,

(12:37):
early second quarter Tuesday night where he just, it was like
a 5 minute span where you're just like, OK, this is, this is
legit. From the bank shot off the glass
was nice because that's touch, that's understanding angle, all
those different aspects of it. Let's put a photo on the game.
9581 was the final. Corey Burr, the head coach for

(12:58):
the summer League Pals, had thisto say with Aaron Summers.
Game was really close. Halftime seemed like the Thunder
came out and had some adjustments.
What changed for you guys? They picked up the pressure and
you know, we didn't handle the pressure well and they made
shots and we missed shots. We got some open looks.
We just come make them and gameslike this, you got to make those
looks. With the back-to-back, a couple
different people in and out of the lineup going forward, are we

(13:20):
not going to see some other players as well?
We'll see what happens. You know, you want the other
guys to get a chance and I thinktonight they came in, they did a
good job. Everybody played hard.
It's just it's one of those nights.
Trey Alexander really popped offthe bench. 23 points.
I mean, really efficient out there.
What did he show you in this one?
He was aggressive and we need him to be aggressive and he made

(13:42):
shots. You know, he's got to do that
the next game too. In some way.
We got to figure out the win. Jeremiah Fira seems like he put
together his most complete game and he had 6 assists, 6
rebounds, 20 points of his own. How have you seen him grow in
each game? He's getting better each game.
He's learning, you know. You know, he's got to learn to
handle pressure better, but it'slittle things and he's going to
get better and better in the summer.

(14:03):
He can look at this film from all these games and see what he
needs to work on all. Right.
One game left. What's it going to take to get
it out of here with a win? It's going to take everything.
We just got to come out and, youknow, figure out the pressure.
You know, every time teams startpressuring us, we start throwing
it all over the gym and that's what happens.
I like hearing thank you to Aaron and coach there for their

(14:24):
time, Jim. It's more about just, again,
just learning it. And then one of the things that
I'm interested once practices and training camp and all that
stuff is the rest of the team that they'll be playing with,
right, and the players. So that'll be interesting to
look at. For sure.
And by the way too, he, you know, he mentioned Tray
Alexander the game that he had. Tray Alexander shot 43% during

(14:45):
the G League regular season lastyear and was the G League rookie
of the year. So he's on a two way contract
with the Pelicans. We do not know what kind of role
he's going to have. We don't know, and I guess we
could probably say this every season that we don't know how
much time a guy's going to spendin Birmingham and how much he's
going to be here. Hopefully it's not a situation
like it was last year where someof those guys played.
We're here way more. Than expected because we talked

(15:07):
to the squadron head coach. He was like, I thought these
guys are going to be here in Birmingham.
I haven't seen. Like, yeah, this team, the team
that I thought I was going to have barely been here, but but
point being that I like I reallylike the way he played Wednesday
against OKC. I mean, awesome game by him, but
he is another 3 point threat. I mean, he took 152 threes in

(15:28):
the G League. So it's not like it's a tiny
number made 65 shot a really good percentage and man, his
shot looks really good Wednesday, which was I think he
was a huge reason he and Jeremiah fears obviously were
two of the reasons why they theyhad a chance to win that game.
But then OK C had a huge second-half and just scored way
too many points to for the New Orleans to be able to stay in
it. Unfortunately, the graph is not

(15:50):
available to give his thoughts on OKC and maybe that's better
that way. Exactly all right time now for
real treat Mark Spears look obviously not just because he
agreed to do stuff with this oneof the best right.
Would you agree? Easily one of the best that
comes the league and a local so you always like having a native.
He's also a Hall of Famer, too. By.
The way exactly so this just andhe's pretty good at what he

(16:12):
does. But he had his chance to sit
down with us here and go over a handful of things from hey, Joe
Dumars now in charge in in leadership position for your New
Orleans Pelicans, but also Jeremiah fears and he he covered
the Golden State Warriors. So a pair of players that used
to play there are now here in Kavon Looney and Jordan Pool.

(16:32):
So sit back and enjoy and we'll be right back.
All right, Tom, now to bring in Mr. Mark Spears, senior NBA
writer and escape and ESPN. Look, change man it it's always
interesting when that happens. No one ever really likes change.
Sometimes you need change. Sometimes you want change.
Change is what it is, though, and there is change here when it

(16:54):
comes to New Orleans Pelicans outside looking in, what do you
make of the change to Joe Dumarsto lead things for the Bells?
I mean, you're, you're getting one of the most legendary
executives in NBA history. I mean, Joe Dumars with us, the
architect of the last Pistons heyday, right?

(17:17):
Like 7 straight Eastern Conference finals he was got
them a championship. You know, they're close to two.
Obviously the Spurs got one of those.
And I think the thing that was most impressive about, you know,
Joe's tenure in Motown was his ability to get a lot guys that

(17:42):
weren't considered stars. You know, I covered Chauncey
Billups in Denver. I remember a time in 1999 when
he was really, really worried about the direction of his
career. He hadn't injury issues and got
traded around and wasn't living up to the expectations and, you

(18:04):
know, went to Minnesota and kindof riding the ship.
But Joe saw that, hey, this is apotential star here.
And what he ended up finding wasa Hall of Famer.
Then you got a guy and and Ben Wallace who wasn't even drafted
and it becomes a Hall of Famer because of, you know, the

(18:25):
defense he provided in Detroit. And so if you if you look at
that team, you know, respectfully, none of those guys
are right in the top 75 players of all time, right, Right.
But you basically, you know, milk that group into something

(18:45):
special for a long, long time. And so I mean, it's if, if he
could do that there, what can hedo for New Orleans, right?
And, and I think he he brings stability, he brings respect and
it's and it's a homecoming. This is somebody that's from
there. And you know, I know how New

(19:08):
Orleans is. I know how Louisiana is like
they love sports, right? Like no one else.
They support their teams like noone else.
I mean, Jim, you know, I go to y'all games and even the ushers
are dancing and during the timeouts, but they're living and
groaning like the ushers are with every play.

(19:29):
The people there are true fans and want nothing more to see
success. And so I, I think, you know,
respect to the leadership beforeI do think that Joe immediately
walks in and the players sit up a little straighter and you,

(19:49):
you, you listen a little more because he was successful as
AGM. He was successful as a player.
He won two titles as a player. It was an All Star.
So he's, he's done everything that you aspire to do.
And when I see him sitting next to Zion, like.

(20:12):
That whole game where Zion's obviously engaged, Zion's
obviously listening to what Joe has to say, that had to be
beautiful for Pelicans fans to see.
Because now I think there's a guy in house that couldn't,
could bring the best out of Zionas kind of like a fatherly role,

(20:36):
so to speak, a mentor role, so to speak, and keep it real role.
And I'm I'm really curious to see what Zion is under Joe
Dumars. Mark, I was laughing when you
mentioned the the ushers becauseI feel like some of them are
hilarious and like you said, they're very boisterous.

(20:58):
I feel like sometimes we need ushers for the ushers, but but
that's another story for anotherday.
Baby, baby. Seats over there baby, leave me
alone, I'm watching the game. You mentioned, you mentioned Joe
Dumars. I spent a lot of time the last
couple days actually, you know, kind of reading some of your

(21:20):
recent work and watching video that you had with Jeremiah
Fears. But I mean, I guess starting
with Joe Dumars, I recommend definitely people check out the,
the, the article that Mark wroteabout Joe.
And I guess I wanted to ask you,I mean, you, you, you touched on
some of the aspects of what you discussed with Joe.
But yeah, Mark, for for people who are, you know, are going to

(21:44):
check out that article, how would you kind of describe your
conversation with Joe? No, it was a it was a really
interesting conversation, man. Talk to him at the wind on
Sunday and there was just like this.
Joe's really chill cool, you know, even as a player, like you
don't really recall him getting overly excited about anything,

(22:06):
right. But I can see the excitement and
and just a joy in his eyes aboutbeing home.
You know, he hadn't been living in Louisiana since I believe it
was shoot 85, you know, since he, since he left, you know,

(22:27):
McNeese. And that doesn't mean your
heart's still not there, right? He's back for family, good and
bad, you know, you know, the badones, right?
Sadly, when people go and he, hewould come back every year.
But you know, his heart never left here.

(22:51):
And he really, really enjoyed his job as a, you know, the NB
as lead disciplinarian, took a lot of pride in it and enjoyed
it and loved living in New York.And, you know, Sacramento and
Phoenix. They tried to get them in
similar jobs to run their teams,right?
And he declined both of those opportunities.

(23:14):
But when Misses Benson called, it was different.
She's like, hey, Joe, I need youto come.
Home help me help me fix this and I think that changed
everything it made him realize that all right this is something

(23:36):
I could do that special to whereI'm from that could leave a
lasting impact and by turning the Pelicans around like I it
just kind of adds to your legacyin Louisiana you know makes him.
An even more favorite son than he is.
So I think that. Call from her.

(23:57):
Perhaps he got a little. Push from in a in a good way
from Adam Silver was too much toturn down like he talked about.
And you know, my family, my mom lives out there, My family's
from there. So you know, I know.
You can relate to his story. Yeah, yeah.
Like he he flew in, gets to his hotel and then like second line

(24:19):
music is playing after he took the job and he's like, yeah, I'm
home. You know, I think 4th of July
his his brother, he has a brother that lives in Baton
Rouge and just going out there and sit in his brother's
backyard and being little brother, like those are special
moments. So I think from a personal
standpoint, it's it's just beautiful man.

(24:44):
You know the Dumbo's going to taste better there than anywhere
else, right? Like the way people talk, the
the way you grew up and there's there's reminders every day and
and it just it just brings something special to him that he
can't duplicate anywhere else. But I mean, if you look at the
talent that's on that roster, right, Zion Pool, you know, Trey

(25:10):
Herb healthy, Josonte Murray, obviously I'm huge.
Jordan Fears. I mean, I'm a Jeremiah Fears
fan. I like the young kid from
Maryland curious to what he's going to be, especially once he,
you know, gets with the trainershere.
Both those guys get stronger. Like there's certainly something

(25:35):
to work with and obviously Joe'sthe one that brought Pool in.
I told Joe my mom was upset thathe he traded us and I told Troy
this, my mom's upset. Y'all traded CJ.
Now my mom was upset with him, but like Joe, Joe, Joe actually,

(25:55):
I actually faced out by Bob and he told her, hey, give us a
chance. And I know I understand, but he
was an amazing man. But give us a chance.
She said, OK, OK, I'll give y'all the chance.
She watches every Pelicans game,man.
And so I just think that, you know, he kept Willie Green, but
I think he's like, hey, when this team is healthy with the

(26:18):
healthy Zion and with Willie on the sideline, they win.
So I'm just really, really curious to see what a Joe Dumars
LED team in New Orleans means. But I know that him walking in
the door just makes you sit up straighter, pay attention more.

(26:42):
And it's almost like, you know, Sensei walked in, You know what
I mean? He looked like Obi Wan Kenobi
walked in like just just as a general in the army walked in
like you're with, with all kind of like pins on his on his
uniform. Like you're just how do you not

(27:03):
listen to him? Why do you wouldn't you want to
be guided by him? Why won't you run through a wall
for him after everything that he's done?
By the way, Mark, this was before Joe Dumars was here, so I
can't blame him for this. But for my mom, it was Josh
Hart. That was the one that I heard.
In terms of. Why did you guys trade this guy?
I love this guy. He was.

(27:23):
He'd run through a wall, but that's another also another
conversation for another day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they need,
they need to go to lunch and like lament, right?
And definitely, Mark, you mentioned your belief in
Jeremiah Fears from talking to him.
And again, this is a interview and story that people should
check out when you actually talked to him before the draft.

(27:46):
So obviously this was before we knew that he was coming to New
Orleans and that he was going tobe a Pelican.
But I mean, he he actually at Wednesday night had a great, his
best game in summer league so far.
He had 22, six and six. So I mean, he showed a lot of
why he rocketed up the draft board and was considered a
lottery pick. Well, I mean, what are some of

(28:06):
the reasons why, you know, like you said, you have confidence in
this guy of what his long term future is going to be.
Well, I I watched him a lot at Oklahoma and you know, I'm shout
out to Nicole Betty at lift management, his representation.
She I was doing a a diary on Halo band Carol last season,

(28:28):
like like the one I did with CJ couple years ago, but this was
video unwritten diary. And so around the beginning of
the year, December, January years we're filming Paulo and I
asked Nicole, I'm like, OK, well, what, what, what draft
picks y'all got? She said, listen to the names.

(28:50):
I'm like, oh, Jeremiah for you. I like, I got to talk to him and
she's like, Oh well, and we justgot him, you know, where he's at
from a maturity standpoint and everything.
And he's young, you know? I mean, Jeremiah is 18.

(29:10):
He don't turn 19 until December.I mean, November, right?
Like, I'm sorry, actually. Actually, it's October.
October. Yeah, like right before the
regular. Season, yeah, I think like ride
around started regular season open 19.
Yep. Interestingly, flag doesn't turn
19 until December. That's right.
But but she about a month later,she came back to me.

(29:31):
She goes, I love this kid. He's really, really mature, very
well spoken, very smart, a lot of energy, which isn't the case
for a lot of kids in college, right?
Like she's like, let's do it. So I did something I typically
wouldn't do. The only other time I did this

(29:51):
was to go and report on Tony Parker retiring from the NBA.
But between games four and five of the Finals, I flew from
Indianapolis to New York City tovisit with Jeremiah.

(30:12):
And so we interviewed him after workout in New York and I think
he might have been think he might have been going so
Washington maybe to work out after that.
But I think New Orleans was coming up because we spoke about
New Orleans. But I loved his game because I

(30:32):
don't I don't want to. This is probably a unfair name
to put out of there, but he justkind of remind me Iverson a
little bit, just the way he plays with the ball, his
fearlessness, his athleticism, his ability to take the ball to
the basket, make big shots. I mean, he's going to get better
with his three-point shot. But he to me was a relentless

(30:57):
show stopper having his body built yet like I'm like
wondering, what is this kid going to be like, right once
he's like in the weight room, once his his man body kicks in,
right, Like, what is he going tobe?
And so I know I was really, really excited about him and,
and Nicole's words didn't, you know, disappoint his guy.

(31:21):
Marco set it up. We went and interviewed him and
he was fantastic. And, you know, really confident
in himself. Like, I don't, I think people
that haven't spent time with himobviously would think he might
be cocky because he said he's told teams and I think he told
the Pelicans like, hey, I think I'm the best player in the
draft. When I mentioned to him that he

(31:44):
wasn't listed in the top three prospects, his head instantly
went down. It was like his eyes got red
with anger. Yeah.
That doesn't to me say cocky. That to me says, all right, the
furnace is getting hotter and I'm and I have to go change this

(32:05):
narrative. So I I think you're going to
you're getting the Pelicans are getting a kid that wants to be
special like he thinks and he wants to be told Dave Mcmenamin,
a top two point guard in NBA history.
And I asked him who his number one was and he said Steph Curry,

(32:27):
you know, different era, right? Like he didn't see Magic play
he. Was.
Born like, think about it, he was born in like 2006.
So I'm I'll give. Him a pass on magic.
That's crazy, right? But I say this ought to say like
something different about him. And there's just a swagger,

(32:52):
there's a competitive level, there's an want to be special
and there's a toughness there that you typically don't see
with players of his size. It reminds me of Iverson as
well. And I think as he gets stronger
and stronger and works and worksand works, he definitely is is
going to be viewed as a special player in this draft and

(33:17):
certainly prove some of the naysayers wrong.
It's funny, Mark, you mentioned him being born in 2006.
I, I realized when the Pelicans drafted him that he's the first
player here that's played here that's actually younger than my
tenure because I started in 2005.
So that that's a little. Scared about?
Well, I mean, that was 2006. Yep, 1007 was my last year cover

(33:40):
to Denver Douglas. I cover to Douglas for seven
seasons. So, you know, to think he was
born then when I was about to leave the Boston to cover the,
you know, their big Three and the championship.
Like. Yeah.
Yeah, man, they're making them younger now.
Did you, by the way, on the samenote, I mean, when you spoke to
him, you know, after it was kindof presented to you of what he's

(34:03):
like when you spoke to him in person, did you get ever have to
kind of remind yourself like this dude's only 18?
Because that's what's hit me toowhen when he speaks, man.
I mean, it just doesn't seem like he's that young, you know,
just in understanding the game and understanding why he caused
the turnovers or understanding those things.
Yeah, but, you know, he'd still have some youthful exuberance to
a man, you know, that's fun. Like, I really like the videos

(34:25):
where he was dancing to bounce music already.
I was like, yeah, that's cool. But he.
But that's what I'm saying, he gets it.
Like, he's already, like, tryingto, like, connect with folks
here, right? You know, like, like, have fun
and have a good time. And I think he's going to, you
know, quickly be a fan favorite.And how do you not like that
Jersey bro? Like. 0 fears like man, like I

(34:50):
was trying to think like somebody asked me before I went
on NBA today the other day, likelike what other jersey was that
swaggy like with the number and the name and I'm like, and he's
actually I wrote it in my story on my he's the first fears in
NBA history. There's never been another
fears. So but just a good, good kid.

(35:13):
I saw him, you got to talk to him at his representations.
You know, Mike Miller's his mainagent at Mike Miller's agency's
party. And he, he, he was there with

(35:35):
his parents, like, which shows you kind of like, you know, he's
still a young guy. His parents were there right at
the party, but he just, you know, wasn't that guy that just
walked in. I'm going to eat some food and
I'm going to get out. He was talking to people.
Yeah. Like, we had a great
conversation. It wasn't a lot of times when I

(35:57):
talked to NBA players. You're going to get the 92nd
conversation. Oh, man, it's good to see you.
Or you could tell they're bored.No, no, he's engaged.
He's looking at you in the eye. He's enjoying the conversation.
He, he just, he just, his parents did an amazing job with
him and I, I think New Orleans is going to fall in love with
him real quick. Yeah, Mark, I mean, there's been

(36:20):
several times when I've watched him play and I've thought he's
been taught well, that that phrase kind of keeps popping
into my head when I see, you know, the way he carries himself
on the court. And, and just the fact that he's
kind of ahead of his years in terms of his game.
And and like we were just discussing his maturity kind of
off the court. But you know, but, but, but, you
know, Pelicans fans really like,you still need to remember he's

(36:44):
still a teenager, right? You got to give him time to
grow. He's going to make mistakes
because of his confidence and his strong words.
And there might be a little bit of a target on his back where a
guy's going to be trying to like, put him in his place a
little bit, you know? Young gun.
OK, you want to be number #2. OK, I got something for you, you

(37:04):
know, so I mean one. Guard he played against in
summer league said he's going tobe good man.
But you know, he's doing a little talking like so like
people are paying attention. But again, like if you know him,
it ain't shade on other people. It's confidence in himself and I

(37:25):
expect him to put the work in totry to live up to those words.
Yeah, I think you've kind of summarized a little bit of how
he's had a little bit of a dust up so far in almost every game
he got ejected. Yeah, right.
From the game Tuesday. Night So I watched that game
too. Like ejected from some of the
the rest. The rest were a little

(37:45):
questionable though too. And what was going on, man?
Yeah, yeah. I mean the dude put his finger
in the guy in his face, right? Like I'm like, I don't know, it
was like, it's summer league, man.
But it's something he could laugh about.
Sure. You know Mark.
It's like there's no locker room, too.
He's like going to it. That.

(38:06):
Was funny to to watch them walk off the court because like you
said, it's like not really sure where they're going to go.
They're going to kind of just stand behind a curtain.
It's almost like you're being put in timeout.
But. Stands with everybody else.
Yeah, You know, Mark, we obviously the the the work that
you've done recently on Joe Dumars and Jeremiah Fears was

(38:26):
really compelling and one of thereasons why we wanted to have
you on. But to go back even further, I
mean, two of the guys at the Pelicans added this offseason
are Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney.
And I really wanted wanted to talk to you as well about your
experience of covering those guys in Golden State.
And you get kind of getting to know them both on and off the

(38:46):
court as players, what kind of people they are.
I guess we could kind of start with Jordan Poole.
I mean, what are what are some of the takeaways that you had of
his time in Golden State? I mean, to me, one of the things
that stood out is how much he improved over the time he was
there from rookie on a really good team that didn't play a ton
to his third year. He's a key part of a
championship team. Well, you know, Jordan was

(39:11):
interestingly, he was put in a situation where first he got a
lot of time in in the G League with Santa Cruz Warriors for the
Warriors is basically let him cook, right?
Like let him do him. And it was that opportunity that
he really got confidence in and he would hear hear like stats

(39:34):
like, Dang, let's do score 40 inthe G League.
And it's you know, he had 35 tonight and he had a big night.
And then I think his rookie yearthat was hurt a lot.
They had a lot of injuries. I'm trying to remember if it was
like the beginning of the COVID year or not, but I think it

(39:54):
might perhaps it was year before, but he he got a lot of
opportunity to shine, a lot of opportunity to, you know, prove
himself when when Steph was hurt.
And I think that just build his confidence higher and higher and
higher. And there would be times where
he was doing Steph type of stuffon the floor.

(40:18):
Like, the kid can score with hiseyes closed, you know, And, you
know, sadly that situation with Draymond Green, like, you know,
really, really affected what wasbudding into something like
really interesting. And so I think it was inevitable
with what happened that change was probably good for both

(40:38):
sides. I think unfortunately for
Jordan, he got, you know, sent to a rebuilding place where it
had to be quite humbling and hadto be quite tough to go from,
you know, being an NBA champion to going to a place where, you

(41:01):
know, you're just hoping to be competitive on most nights.
You're not even thinking playoffs.
So that it probably like, I'm guessing probably shook them in
a lot of ways, like showed him just wow, you know, the blessing
that he had in Golden State And I think probably coming to New

(41:21):
Orleans now, he knows he's goingto be a play a key role,
probably the number 2 scoring role on a team that went healthy
really, really good. You know, you know, I'm sure
Trey is going to compete with him for the number 2 scoring
role. Maybe Desante does some when he
gets back, but but now I mean, they're they got so many weapons

(41:45):
offensively that could be quite interesting with this squad.
And but one thing I mean, you could pencil in 20 to 30 every
night from him. Yeah.
That's not like that's just whathe does.
I mean, he's an electric scorer.He's going to be a fan favorite
as well. They know New Orleans going to

(42:07):
get start enjoying the pool party and like for people that
like are looking at him from theclouded incident and Golden
State standpoint, he's a good dude, man.
He's really good dude. And one one thing I saw when he
would come back to Golden State was like Steph Curry would light

(42:27):
up and want to see him and ask him to come to the locker room
so they could visit and get timetogether like that.
You know, Steph is like the bestof best persons and for him to
always want to like visit with Jordan when Jordan comes through
that, that shows how much respect Steph has for him as a
player and a person. So I think this is a great move

(42:50):
for Jordan. I think he's going to thrive
under Joe. He's he's he's getting the OG
status in the league now. He's not a young guy anymore.
He's been around, he's seen the great and he's seen the bad.
And now I think this is, you know, maybe kind of his Chauncey
Billup kind of moment where he like, solidifies himself with an

(43:14):
organization where he turns intosomething special that I think
he's always believed that he could be.
How curious are you to see him play with?
You know, you mentioned some of the talent that this team has to
play with Zion, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, these guys.
I mean, I know you can't compareanyone to Steph Curry in in

(43:35):
terms of what type of player he is.
This is a totally different group of guys.
But I mean, do you think it's going to be beneficial to him to
have some of these other talent around him?
Yeah, I mean, once they get to run in, and I mean, when's the
last guy you had that was makinglogo threes?
Yeah, it's been Trey, Trey Murphy.

(43:57):
Yeah, besides him, it's been probably never.
Yeah, like he had. He's a Jordan's a threat.
Once he crashes, crosses half court, he's a threat.
Yeah, he's a threat. And he has like, I'm I'm I'm
going to be excited to see him and Spears play together because

(44:17):
all of a sudden Smoothie King Center is going to turn into an
ice rink because the players, the defenders are going to be on
skates. Like with them two guys on the
floor together with all their tricks in the bag and everything
that they got dribbling wise. Like when Dejante gets back,
like they're they're going to befun to watch, especially if they

(44:39):
are up tempo and flying and now you got shooters.
I mean, it makes it better for Zion.
And I think they're going to be really exciting and fun to
watch. And I think they need to bring
back the the woo. They need to bring that.
Back the Ric Flair. Yeah, bring.
Back the Ric Flair, they need tobring back the the horn they

(45:01):
played with PJ Brown. They bring all those, all those
like bells and whistles back from a sound standpoint.
Because I think the way these guys if healthy way, they're
going to be fast and fun and furious and and Jordan's going
to be a big part of that. Last thing for me, you know,

(45:24):
Kevon Looney played ten years for Golden State.
He's not the first name you think of when you think of their
championship runs, but just listening to people from Golden
State, it sounds like he's very,he was pretty invaluable in
terms of his leadership. What are some of the things that
stood out from to you to from covering him over those years?

(45:44):
Professional, quiet leader like you can't see what?
Happens in the locker. Room, but anytime his name is
mentioned, it's like I think people assume like Draymond and
Steph were kind of run in the locker room, but I think Looney
was when anytime they had some drama, he was a guy that would

(46:09):
fix it. And as you guys will find out,
he's really quiet. He don't say a whole lot.
It's not that he's not friendly.He is and you know, his dad is a
very, very quiet guy. Now, his mom is his personality.
She going to love being in New Orleans.

(46:30):
You'll know who his mom is. She's quite the opposite.
But he's he is his dad's son. He's very quiet And but you
know, I think both of you guys are old enough to remember the
same like EF Hutton, You know, when when they talk, people
listen. He's like that.
When he talks, you need to listen.
And I think he especially at thelosing CJ, you need somebody in

(46:54):
that locker room that can policeit.
And you got to remember like that Willie coached them and
Golden State. So there's there's, you know,
certainly a familiarity of him from Golden State and what he
did completely was there right. And I think a lot of people

(47:15):
haven't put two and two togetheron that that.
But if I'm Joe, if I'm Troy, if I'm Willie, I'm telling your
amazing equipment guy big. Shot.
Big shot put his locker to Zion's locker.

(47:35):
Like you got to do that. You got to have those lockers
next to each other. You have to have that veteran
presence next to him, somebody that like, I mean, like if when
he says something, why wouldn't Zion listen to him?
Sure, you know having that OG how many championships he won.
3. Yeah, 3 championships, right?

(47:57):
Like is he the player Zion was? No, he had tremendous injuries
that like really derailed his what he.
If you go look at Looney's highlights in college, you'd be
like, oh wow, you had a bag. He also has had some, you know,

(48:18):
hip issues that and, you know, change his game and it's made
him a tough old school defender.And so he'll come in handy, like
when Houston comes to town, whenJoker comes to town, when the
Clippers come to town with theirtooth, like when the big centers
come in and you need somebody put some lumber on them.
Dallas. Like, he could.

(48:39):
Yeah, doubt. Like he could do that.
Maybe not so much the athletic, acrobatic ones, but like, you
know, the big brawny guys when they come in, he he could put
that wood on them and but he's always a professional.
He's always going to hold his teammates accountable.

(48:59):
He'll he'll be the guy that likeif there's an issue, he'll help
clean it up. And he just one of the best
people like this business has produced.
So the kind of person I, I ultimately, he may have more
effect in the locker room than he has in the court.
But if your locker room is a mess, your court's going to be a

(49:21):
mess, right? They could, he'll, he'll clean
up a lot of stuff behind the scenes that we'll never know
about. I.
Love it. Well, you definitely got me
excited for the upcoming season here.
We're training camp just a couple weeks away before you
know it. And you said Fast and the
Furious. I wrote down Fast and the
Furious. So if it if it sticks out, I'll
hook you up with some resistance.

(49:45):
Whatever. I need a side hustle.
You know what I'm saying. Anyway, Mark Spears, senior NBA
writer and scape and of course, ESPN, as always, may appreciate
the time. Thank you for finding a little
bit today to, you know, give pals, fans a little insight on
some of the big moves coming up go.
Tigers. All right, now thanks to Mark
Spears. As always, may I appreciate the
time. That was incredible insight.
I I sat down and jotted down at least 5 or 6 bullet points

(50:09):
moving forward from some of the things he said.
Really cool to hear if I'm a pills fan.
Hey, the guy that runs our team,other teams wanted him.
Really cool to hear him say, hey, this rookie you got he,
there's just something about himand you just mentioned guy's a
Hall of Famer. Spears in covering the NBA, he
has been around, he has seen, hehas spoken to some of the best

(50:31):
players to play the game. If he's getting that.
And he's not saying this guy's going to be a Hall of Famer.
He's just saying there's something to this guy, right?
Right. And that makes me happy.
Yeah, I think we'd be hard pressed to find somebody who
could give us more insight into what we're looking forward to
coming up next season, including, I mean, 4 gentlemen
that are all new members of the organization between Dumars,

(50:52):
Fears, Pool and Looney. I mean, so he was the perfect
guest to at this point in July to talk about, you know, the
experience that he had covering the Warriors and then the also
the recent articles and interviews that he did with Joe
Dumars and Jeremiah Fears. So yeah, I, I really enjoyed
listening to him and I think it was well worth, you know, having

(51:14):
him on for 3035 minutes just to break down a bunch of different
topics relate to the Pelicans. Did he sound like he really
liked my Fast and Furious idea and didn't seem like he did?
No, I well, he said fast that heI was just trying.
Yeah, he, I think he liked the effort, Gus.
I think he thought you really tried hard.
On the Miami Kid from back in the day.

(51:34):
But great effort dude. He's probably like 30 now
honestly right? Wanted right after the day he.
Lost. That was been a while.
That would have been around maybe 20/11/2012.
So yeah, I guess he'd be thirteen years older than he
was. 23 to 2022, something like that.
My gosh, he might have kids, butnow it's crazy.

(51:55):
Look, it, summer league's done. We, we, we're not going to go
away completely, though. Let's just kind of set it up
briefly and we'll get on out of here and have people enjoy their
weekends. August, about about a month or
so from now. About a month or so from now,
it'll be midweek. More than likely.
The NBA schedule is going to come out right.

(52:16):
Yeah. And I'm really curious this
year, I don't think we talked about this very much.
I meant really interested to seethe impact that the new TV deal
is going to have on team schedules.
I mean, there's different aspects of the of the new
brought, I guess I say TV, but Ireally, it's really the
broadcasting deal because you have streaming partners now with
Amazon and Peacock is going to have some games as well.

(52:37):
For example, Amazon has a Saturday afternoon package.
So are the Pelicans going to have maybe one or two more
Saturday afternoon games? There's a lot more national TV
doubleheaders on more nights of the week so.
NBC has a package. Right.
NBC has games on Tuesday nights.How is that going to change?
Maybe like tip off times for thePelicans of some of their home
games? So I mean, there's a bunch of

(52:59):
different areas that I'll be curious to see.
One of the biggest things obviously I always look at is
like, how do they start their season?
But yeah, I am really something I'm sure we'll breakdown when we
get this. We actually get the schedule and
it gets released in middle August or so.
Of how much of a difference thatmakes, I don't, I really don't
know. Maybe it doesn't make much of a

(53:20):
difference at all. But I think that there will be
elements to the new TV deal thatmake you say, OK, this is a
little bit of a tweak from what we've experienced over the last
20 something years. Yeah, no doubt.
And right after that, about a a month and 1/2 or so after that,
it's media dates towards the endof September.
And that's a Tuesday, September 23rd.
We've been told training camp starts the very next day.

(53:42):
And you're like what? Yes, so Wednesday the 24th of
September is day one of trainingcamp.
But Jim, as you know, this player is going to be in here
well before that and get ready for that.
But that just kind of gives you an idea.
They're going to be here a couple of days till Saturday,
then they're out to Australia because the first preseason game
is the is the third. I think it's as recorded here.

(54:04):
It's it's under 80 days away. So it's under 80 days away.
It's 777876 days somewhere around there when I last
checked, but it's not that far, you know, when you look at it.
So we'll have a podcast at some point to go over the schedule.
We have an idea of a handful of guests we'd like to have with
you here as well to kind of set up because as Jim said, there's
some interesting things for it as well.

(54:25):
Where's the long road trips and what was that and how's this
team kind of looking at it and going about it here as well?
What are we going to get some ofthese players back?
We're going to get everybody back, it kind of seems from
listening to the broadcast on inSummer League, I want to say I
heard a color analyst say that Trey Murphy is working out and
he's playing and he's and he's, you know, doing stuff already in

(54:47):
the gym. That's good.
I hadn't heard that. I hadn't seen him.
But that that's, that that's a clear indication that if you're
playing basketball, then you're recovered or recovered enough to
do stuff to work on his game. So that's a great sign more than
anything else. So anyway, we'll have a couple
of podcasts for you getting on as we get closer towards the

(55:07):
season starts, man. Yeah.
I mean, I'm, I'll be looking forward to doing a podcast
related to the schedule. And I don't want to guarantee
that you're going to be completely rid of us until then
either. You never know that we could pop
in with something between now and then.
Yeah. But but yeah, I mean, as far As
for now, yeah, I think we'll be talking to you again in August
and then we'll be getting reallybusy, busy again when we get

(55:29):
into the end of September. Right.
Sounds good Jim. I can offer as always,
appreciate it. Thank you guys.
Yep. And thank you for listening to
New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. And don't forget, go to
pelicans.com. Jim's had all this stuff from
draft day through summer league to now.
So if you hadn't had a chance to, just want to peruse a lot of
the articles features on Fears and Queen and the draft picks

(55:49):
and the new players that came invia trade or free agency
signings as well. Jim has specific articles on
them. He's chatted with people that
covered him like the Golden State crew and all that.
So go check that out, OK? In the meantime, we'll see you
soon on the New Orleans PelicansPodcast.
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.

(56:11):
Join us three times per week on pelicans.com, the Pelicans
mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,or where you get your podcast.
And be sure to give Jim and Gus of follow on X and Jim under
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score 17. We'll see you next time right

(56:33):
here on the New Orleans PelicansPodcast.