Respect in the NBA isn’t handed out because a team asks nicely. The New Orleans Pelicans are finding that out again, with the league’s schedule release and Tyrese Haliburton’s comments both landing like reminders that the only real way to change perception is to win.
The Pelicans have just two nationally televised games on the schedule, and both come during their January trip to Europe, when they’ll face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in France and England. Without that overseas showcase - and Wembanyama on the other side - it’s fair to wonder whether New Orleans would have landed even those two broadcasts.
That puts the Pelicans in the same small group of teams with only two national games: the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets. None of those teams reached the postseason last season, and none are expected to make it this year.
The message from the schedule is blunt. Good teams get the spotlight.
Bad teams do not. The Pelicans have seen that play out for years, with their national TV presence falling from 30 games in 2019, when Zion Williamson was drafted, to 18 four years ago, then 12, then 13 the season before last.
Last season and again this season, they’re down to two.
Anyone who follows the Pelicans closely knows there’s enough talent on the roster to justify more attention. Williamson, Trey Murphy and Dejounte Murray give New Orleans proven names, while rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen add intrigue. But the broader basketball audience hasn’t been convinced yet, and that’s on the Pelicans to fix.
The schedule itself also doesn’t exactly make life easy. New Orleans has 16 back-to-backs, tied with the Nets, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks for the most in the league.
Every team has at least 13, so the Pelicans aren’t being singled out there. They also have the league’s most stretches of three games in four nights, with 27.
The Los Angeles Lakers are next with 26.
So no, the NBA didn’t hand the Pelicans any special treatment. And with Joe Dumars now in the front office after three years in the league office, there’s no reason to expect that kind of help anyway. New Orleans is going to have to force its way into the conversation.
That brings us to Haliburton, who missed all of last season while recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. He’s set to return this season, but his first game back will not be in front of the home crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Instead, Indiana opens on the road at the Smoothie King Center against the Pelicans.
Haliburton said last week that he was disappointed by that setup, and he made it clear he thought the league should have given him a different stage for his return. The NBA could have, and probably should have, put a player of his stature - two All Stars, two All-NBA selections and the leader of a Finals team - back in front of his own fans. Instead, he starts in New Orleans.
On a podcast, Haliburton put his frustration into words:
“Think of a player you could compare to my level of basketball, someone who’s torn their Achilles tendon and been out for 16 months,” Haliburton said. “That wouldn’t be nationally televised, right?
Do you think the game would be at home if it wasn’t being broadcast? Do you think that game should be in New Orleans?
I looked at the schedule and thought ‘Wow.’ Nothing personal, my guy Trey Murphy is there.
I love NOLA, but I was kind of shocked… but we’ll move on.”
The Pelicans shouldn’t rush to answer him. Or the schedule. Or anyone else.
They have two months to let all of it sit there and become motivation before the Oct. 21 season opener. The response doesn’t need to come in words.
It needs to come on the floor. That’s the only language that earns respect.
In Other News...
Pelicans Just Sent Another Clear Message About Their Frontcourt Priorities
The Pelicans kept trimming and reshaping the back end of their roster this week, waiving second-year center Hunter Dickinson to clear a two-way spot after adding Malik Dia on a two-way contract. Dickinsons time in New Orleans was brief after he went undrafted in 2025 and appeared in five games last season, but the move fits the teams continued search for the right mix of size and developmental depth around the frontcourt.
New Orleans is still not done sorting out those two-way slots, and the opening left behind should only sharpen the competition when camp gets going. Players like Kobe Bufkin and Christian Koloko are among the names now in position to fight for that space, which means the Pelicans roster churn at the bottom is still very much tied to how they want to build out the big-man group. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Frontcourt Battle Just Put One Young Forward Under Pressure
The Pelicans finished filling out their 15-man roster by signing forward Trendon Watford, and that move gives New Orleans another option in a frontcourt that already looks crowded. Both Watford and Karlo Matkovi are on one-year deals, and with the club expected to lean smaller and faster without a true starting center, the power forward picture suddenly has a lot less room than it did a week ago.
Training camp under new head coach Jamahl Mosley figures to sort out the fit, but the signing also adds pressure to a young forward trying to carve out a place in the rotation. Watford brings another body into the mix, and the battle in that spot could become one of the quieter but more revealing roster questions as the Pelicans settle into Mosleys first camp with the team. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Camp Battle Could Decide More Than One Key Roster Spot
The Pelicans have already done some of the housekeeping ahead of training camp, signing Trendon Watford to a one-year deal and Malik Dia to a two-way contract while building out a roster that still features established pieces like Dejounte Murray and Zion Williamson. Caleb Houstan is also under contract and expected to be around when camp opens, giving New Orleans another young name to sort through as it tries to balance immediate depth with longer-term development.
The two-way picture is where things get especially interesting, because the front office has left itself room to keep competing for one of the remaining openings. With Hunter Dickinson out of the mix after the move that cleared the spot, the Pelicans now have a camp battle that could shape more than a single line on the roster sheet, and the outcome may say plenty about how they want to blend upside, fit and readiness entering the season. [Read more 🡒]