Tag: David Griffin

“We’re getting ready to go out finally …

“We’re getting ready to go out finally to the hallway, to do our prayer, go out for warmups, and Aaron Nelson sprints through the locker room to try to find David Griffin. And that’s when we found out Courtney Kirkland had reffed the Jazz game,” Redick said. “So, then we were having a conversation in the locker room like, you know, ‘I don’t think it’s safe to play.’ No one felt like it was safe to play. Had the NBA made us play, we would have hooped, but I know a lot of guys expressed concern that they didn’t feel like it was safe to go out and play. Not just for us, but for anyone — anyone that was in that arena that night.”

NBA focused on returning this season

The current state of the NBA has left much in peril and question with not only the league but the world in a situation never before experienced in our lifetimes. With regards to the NBA season and its fate, all sorts of potential solutions have been tossed out, ranging from continuing the season from the spot it was paused to forgoing the remaining weeks of the regular season to starting back up with the playoffs. During the Pelicans Playback social show on Saturday, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin gave some insight into the league’s thinking.

“With everything changing so quickly, …

“With everything changing so quickly, everything is in a state of flux that I think it would be premature for the NBA to say what it ultimately looks like. I do know unequivocally that the league is very mindful of the idea of getting back to playing. The idea of canceling a season is not all on their minds, and we’re modeling every possible thing we can for how we can deliver a product to the fans. Quite frankly, we’re all going to need a diversion in the future. (But) until we can get to a point where we think we’ve got containment of (the coronavirus), we’re going to continue to stay locked down. Hopefully we’ll get to a point where we can come back sooner rather than later.”

David Griffin says league is focused on resuming, not canceling season

With plenty of options available for the NBA moving forward, David Griffin says the league is looking to finish this season, not cancel it.

The current state of the NBA has left much in peril and question with not only the league but the world in a situation never before experienced in our lifetimes. With regards to the NBA season and its fate, all sorts of potential solutions have been tossed out, ranging from continuing the season from the spot it was paused to forgoing the remaining weeks of the regular season to starting back up with the playoffs.

None of that factors into the fate of the NBA Draft, which also has its future up the air as well. While some expect the Draft to be held without in-person interviews, individual workouts or even the combine, the date of the draft is still uncertain.

During the Pelicans Playback social show on Saturday, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin gave some insight into the league’s thinking.

 “With everything changing so quickly, everything is in a state of flux that I think it would be premature for the NBA to say what it ultimately looks like. I do know unequivocally that the league is very mindful of the idea of getting back to playing. The idea of canceling a season is not all on their minds, and we’re modeling every possible thing we can for how we can deliver a product to the fans. Quite frankly, we’re all going to need a diversion in the future. (But) until we can get to a point where we think we’ve got containment of (the coronavirus), we’re going to continue to stay locked down. Hopefully we’ll get to a point where we can come back sooner rather than later.”

If the league is adamant at continuing this season, it likely means drastic changes to the NBA schedule that would be permanent. Many have called for a change in the schedule to push it further back so it is competing with baseball during the summer versus football in the winter.

The options are endless, but the fact the NBA is focused on bringing this season back could spell good things for Pelicans squad that was closing in on the playoffs in the final weeks before the suspension.

David Griffin on Zion Williamson: ‘He really connects to this city’

Pelicans vice president David Griffin was appreciative of Williamson pledging to cover the salaries of the workers at Smoothie King Center.

No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson made news last week when he announced that he would cover the salaries for those who work at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans for the next 30 days.

Players and owners have stepped up in helping arena workers since the NBA announced the regular season would be suspended until further notice. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was among the first to state his intentions to put a plan in place to financially assist those who may be affected by the loss of games.

Since that time, teams and players across the NBA have put into place similar plans as employees around the NBA deal with the potential loss of income with games suspended for the time being. Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin was especially appreciative of the gesture by Williamson as he addressed fans on Twitter Saturday night.

It just shows an awful lot about where his head is as a 19-year-old guy. He really connects to this city. He cares deeply about our fans and about this region and as does his family. His mom and dad were really integral in that decision. His stepdad, Coach [Lee] Anderson, and his mother, Sharonda, it means the world to them to be able to make an impact in this community and the way this community has impacted upon them.

I think when you see it start with a 19-year-old kid, it gives you a great deal of comfort in the future of this franchise that it’s in the right hands from a player perspective.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver offered an update on the status of the league and detailed the criteria for when they will consider returning to play, including playing in empty arenas and in front of fans. The thought is the NBA will return to play in June at the earliest.

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In the months leading up to the 2014 …

In the months leading up to the 2014 draft, no NBA franchise scouted the basketball team at the University of Kansas more vigorously than the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs were coming off a tumultuous season, their fourth straight missing the playoffs, and still reeling from LeBron James’ decision four years earlier to bolt for Miami. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert responded by firing his general manager (Chris Grant) and his head coach (Mike Brown). He then handed the keys to an NBA lifer named David Griffin. Griffin had broken into the NBA 21 years earlier as an intern with the Phoenix Suns. By 2007 he was senior vice president of basketball operations in Phoenix. In 2010 he left for a similar job with the Cavaliers, and now he was running the show. With the Cavaliers miraculously winning the draft lottery, despite entering the evening with just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick, he’d have his choice among three players grouped together at the top of most draft boards: Duke forward Jabari Parker and Kansas teammates Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.

The Cavs moved Embiid to the mid-range. …

The Cavs moved Embiid to the mid-range. His jumper was fluid and smooth. He finished the workout by stepping out behind the three-point line. He splashed his first shot from behind the arc. “How could you not draft me No. 1?” he shouted at Griffin. He swished another. “Look how good I am!” Another ripped through the net. “You need me, Griff!” A fourth make. “Come on, Griff, you gotta draft me!” A fifth. “I’m so good!” A sixth. “I gotta be No. 1!” A seventh. “How can you not take me?”

That wasn’t good enough for the …

That wasn’t good enough for the Cavaliers. Griffin had a mandate from ownership to win and needed a player who could immediately help the team. Even if he wanted to take Embiid, the Cavaliers’ doctors wouldn’t give him the green light. The Bucks, meanwhile, had locked in on Parker, another Tellem client, at No. 2, and anyway, Embiid had no interest in playing there. “That place is corny,” he told Nyam. What he really wanted was to fall to the Lakers at No. 7. He’d been living in Los Angeles and grown comfortable in the city. “Work your magic,” he told Tellem. Tellem knew there was no chance of Embiid plunging that far, so instead he and Nyam sold Embiid on Philadelphia. Tellem had grown up there. Nyam had moved there to play high school basketball. It took a bit, but Embiid bought in.