The Pelicans Get a Turn of Luck and Hope
On Tuesday night, Louisiana’s sports and the New Orleans Pelicans had a turn of good luck.
Pelicans fans all around the state celebrated as NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announced that the New Orleans Pelicans had won the 1st pick of the upcoming draft in June; winning the chance to pick Zion Williamson. It seems like luck was turning around for Louisiana sports from the past years as bad luck has haunted the New Orleans Saints, Pelicans and college sports.
Louisiana Sports has had a lot of bad luck lately. The New Orleans Saints have experienced bad luck in the last two years in the NFL playoffs. They have lost on freak plays and bad officiating resulting in them not reaching the Super Bowl. Especially this year when the referees failed to call a pass inference call on the Los Angeles Rams that led to the Rams winning and going to Super Bowl.
College sports in Louisiana has been tough to witness. Louisiana State University (LSU) football has failed to build a team that can compete with Alabama for the last twelve years. While the other schools’ football team has tried to stay relevant with the leftover recruits that the major schools do not take.
The winning of the first pick helps the NOLA Pelicans and the state a lot. The Pelicans have been going through trade drama with their star player Anthony Davis. Now they have an insurance policy in Zion Williamson and also can try to convince Anthony Davis to commit to the team. Allowing the state to gain more revenue in sports while also helping the Pelicans with ticket sales.
The New Orleans basketball franchise has failed many superstars. This leads to many questions. Can the Pelicans build a great team around Zion? Possibly not. Will Anthony Davis reconsider his trade request and try to play with Zion? Most likely not but the state and Pelicans now have some hope to look forward. Zion Williamson is supposed to be the next big thing since Lebron. Let’s hope he answers the most important question of who will lead New Orleans to their first professional basketball championship.
