Joe Dumars’ ‘obsessed’ message to Pelicans’ Zion Williamson that’s allegedly paying off this summer
An important conversation that Pelicans’ Joe Dumars had with his star forward Zion Williamson ahead of the 2026-27 season.
New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars revealed a conversation he had with Zion Williamson this summer. Dumars defended the Pelicans’ stagnant offseason this summer. He addressed Williamson’s future in New Orleans and a talk he had with Zion.
Dumars, a Basketball Hall of Fame guard, talked about his discussion with Williamson, per NOLA.com’s Rod Walker.
“To be great, you have to be obsessed with this,” Dumars told Williamson. “You can’t casually become great in this league. What I’ve seen from him this summer is he’s obsessed with the work he’s putting in. And that is really encouraging for me that he’s putting this type of work in.”
Joe Dumars says he’s already seen results in Zion Williamson and other Pelicans players’ approach this summer.
“Every one of them,” Dumars said. “Queen is working like he’s never worked before. Fears is working like that. Trey. Herb (Jones). Saddiq (Bey). All of them are working their butts off. That’s encouraging for me that these guys have become that obsessed with working this summer.”
Despite a relatively quiet summer due to not a whole lot of roster movement, Dumars believes his Pelicans are ready to bounce back from a lackluster 2025-26 season.
Joe Dumars addresses Pelicans’ dormant offseason
Amidst speculation of Pelicans forward Zion Williamson’s poor work ethic, Joe Dumars believes that won’t be the narrative in 2026-27. Hall of Fame forward Scottie Pippen questioned Pelicans forward Williamson’s dieting, which some believe is holding him back. And while many assumed there would be a trade to improve Zion’s supporting cast, it came to no avail.
Dumars addressed how busy he’s been this summer despite the Pelicans’ quiet summer.
“We were engaged in a lot of conversations with a lot of different teams,” Dumars said Friday in an interview with The Times-Picayune. “But at the end of the day, you’ve got to make a determination if this is the right deal or not. You don’t want to make a move for the sake of making a move. It has to be right for us.”
Still, Pelicans’ Joe Dumars continues fielding calls amidst a busy NBA offseason.
“When you’re presented with deals that you can do, you’ve got to make a determination if this is going to make you better and add what you need,” Dumars said. “The lack of moves being made right now is not from a lack of effort or us deciding we didn’t want to do anything. We’ve engaged with a lot of teams this offseason. But there was just no big deal that I felt was going to make us better for us to pull the trigger on.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Pelicans will make a trade before the 2026-27 season.
New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars revealed a conversation he had with Zion Williamson this summer. Dumars defended the Pelicans’ stagnant offseason this summer. He addressed Williamson’s future in New Orleans and a talk he had with Zion.