The Smoothie King Center in downtown New Orleans will be filled with fans wearing vibrant red T-shirts Wednesday night, matching the color of the uniforms Pelicans players are donning for Opening Night vs. Denver. Before Anthony Davis and his teammates display their popular red alternate jerseys, however, they'll be sporting a shooting shirt that honors a fallen teammate.
The Pelicans will come out for warmups tonight in black shooting shirts that feature the letters “BDJ” and the number “31,” in memory of Bryce Dejean-Jones, who was killed in Dallas on Memorial Day weekend. Dejean-Jones was a Pelicans rookie in 2015-16, playing in 14 games prior to breaking his right wrist. Pelicans coaches will wear a pin that features the same tribute to Dejean-Jones, who wore jersey No. 31.
Prior to tip-off, a moment of silence will be held in memory of the Los Angeles product. Several of Dejean-Jones' family members are expected to be in attendance for tonight's game.
Other notes from the Smoothie King Center, which hosted shootarounds for both Denver and New Orleans, as well as Tuesday's Pelicans practice:
Davis on keys against Denver (33-49 last season): “Transition. Offensive rebounding. We've got to control what we can control, which is make sure they're not getting easy buckets. Make sure they're not playing harder than us. They win off of all the intangible stuff. So we've got to make sure we don't let them get easy buckets or feel comfortable out there.” …
Buddy Hield is set to make his NBA debut and said he's adjusting to how he needs to prepare for games in the league. In college, Hield would stay in the arena all day leading up to tip-off, but he's been advised not to do that during an 82-game schedule, in order to get his rest. “I wanted to keep (the routine), but they said it's not good to do it, because there are so many games and travel. But that's what got me here, so I'm going to try not to forget what got me here.” …
Pelicans guard Langston Galloway makes his official homecoming tonight, with his first NBA game playing for his home-state team. “It's going to be a lot of excitement,” he said. “I'm ready to go. I'm really excited to start the season off. It's regular season time. We've got to get off with a bang.”
