Jamahl Mosley has the New Orleans Pelicans believing

METAIRIE, La. – A frustrated and fatigued Jamahl Mosley looked like he could use several cups of café au lait on the morning of Oct. 22 after a nail-biting loss for his New Orleans Pelicans in their season opener.

Mosley, in his first season as Pelicans head coach, typically watches film of a home game at his house afterward and then once again with his coaching staff in the morning. But after the Pelicans fell to the Indiana Pacers 123-120 on Oct. 21, the frustrated coach looked for answers by watching game film at Smoothie King Center late into the night, reviewing it again once he woke up in the morning at home and then again with his coaching staff before practice.

Having a good night’s sleep wasn’t on his agenda. What he was focused on was finding winning solutions for the Pelicans.

“This team can be very special,” Mosley told Andscape at the Pelicans’ practice facility Oct. 22. “It can. ‘If’ is a big word, but we have a chance. We have the pieces to match up all across the board with a lot of teams. And the West[ern Conference] is obviously a beast. Me getting acclimated back to the West after being in Dallas those years, the talent over in the West is tough. The style of play is a little different.

“But we have the talent level to match a lot of these teams. And it just comes down to our mindset, our details, the discipline, the trust in the process of what we’re doing, and then believing it.”

Mosley and his improving Pelicans (4-4) are sleeping just a little bit better now after winning four games in a row to pull back to .500.

Mosley, 48, spent the previous five seasons guiding the Orlando Magic to a 189-221 overall record in his first stint as an NBA head coach. The Magic made the first round of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons but failed to advance.

Last season, Orlando had a 3-1 lead in the first round against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Detroit Pistons but dropped four games in a row to lose the series. The Magic fired Mosley on May 4, ending a tenure that included two division titles and three consecutive winning seasons while key starters were plagued by injuries the past two seasons. Two weeks later, the Pelicans hired Mosley.

After going 26-56 last season, the Pelicans are hoping for a turnaround under Mosley like the one he orchestrated in Orlando. New Orleans lost its first four games by an average of 3.25 points. Since then, the Pelicans have won four straight, including back-to-back overtime wins, entering tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We are feeling good. We have a long way to go. Obviously, we can’t dwell in the past… We’re 4-4,” Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey said after a 120-113 overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. “We have to continue to build to. For me, personally, it’s great for the guys to have this opportunity. It’s battle testing us. [Mosley] has instilled a lot in me and the rest of the team, so we have to give glory to him.”

The following is an Andscape exclusive Q&A with Mosley in which he reflects on his time with the Magic, why he took the Pelicans job so quickly after being fired, his thoughts on the talent on his roster, why it was important to connect with Pelicans star Zion Williamson and all the players, his expectations for Williamson, being connected to the New Orleans Saints, what he has learned already from Pelicans president Joe Dumars, his adjustment to the unique culture of the city of New Orleans and much more.

What attracted you to the Pelicans job?

[Pelicans executives] Joe D. and Mrs. [Gayle] Benson. Those were the first two pieces. Just being listening to Joe, having conversations with him, [Pelicans general manager] Troy [Weaver] and [Pelicans executive advisor] Jordan [Dumars]. There’s just a realness about them. There’s a belief. You talk about connection and being on the same page. “Aligned” is the big word. And you know you say it a lot, but with Joe you really feel it. And with Mrs. Benson, you know what they’re about. That was a big key. Then the other piece was the roster. When healthy, it’s an extremely talented roster.

Did you even flirt with any other NBA head coaching job prior to New Orleans?

I flirted with sitting at home. I flirted with doing nothing, taking a year off. You get so head down into the grind of things that you don’t realize how much you don’t see your family, how much you don’t see your kids. And all of a sudden, you’re sitting at home with them and you’re realizing, “Oh man, this is the quality time.” I do a good job of it within the job, but I knew I could be better. That was the only thing I flirted with when it came to that.

Where was your stress level at last season in Orlando?

I got kicked out of the Charlotte game [in the second quarter on March 19] and it was just not me. … The emotions took over a little bit. It wasn’t even the stress of it. It was knowing what we were capable of doing, and we just weren’t hitting the marks.

But from the other side of it, I had learned to understand what we were and where we were, and what we were doing there. There was a detachment from that, but also there was a care and the want for these guys to take it to the next level because I knew how good we could have been.

How were you taking the rumors that you could be fired last season?

I take it the way I take everything else: I don’t listen. My head’s down and people are talking, and that’s fine. People are always going to talk, good or bad. You look at clips when they’re saying, “Oh, it’s amazing.” And then you look at the clips [where] it says, “They’re terrible.” So, I don’t pay any of it any mind. I just went and put my head down and said, “Let’s let me coach these guys the best that I can in this moment to get us where we need to be and what we know we’re capable of doing.”

So, I had to go into a Game 7 as the eighth seed [against Detroit] and we haven’t been healthy all [season]. My only goal was to keep the team right, keep them together, keep them focused, keep them moving the right direction. Because that is what we promised we would do when we walked into Orlando — put them in the best position possible.

You got fired for the first time as a head coach. How were you told and how did how did it hit? Did you believe it was coming?

At some point you just know, right? You just know. As the rumors start to surface, you listen, you hear them. You’re like, “Yeah, I get it.” And then you also understand that some people have to do their job. We didn’t accomplish what we were supposed to accomplish. We were supposed to be a second-round team or whatever it was when healthy. And you didn’t get the job done.

So, it was coming to the office. I had come in there to do some things a day right afterwards. I knew it was coming. I was prepping before they even said a word to me. I get it. I understand it. I’m grateful for the opportunity. You gave me my first job. The DeVos family. [Magic president] Jeff Wellman. [Magic senior advisor] John Hammond. “You guys gave me my first opportunity. Thank you. I get it.” I’ve been in this business before. I’ve had best friends fired. I have best friends who were battling against each other. And my mentors have been fired. So, welcome to the NBA.

The relationships and my kids are the probably the biggest piece about all of it. It’s not me. It’s part of this league. So, it was knowing was coming. But I like I said it in my [final Magic] postgame press conference, I was grateful. I was grateful to coach some of the best players and help them grow from 22 wins to 34 wins to 47 wins to three years of the playoffs to being able to say, “We should be better.” You want that for them. And so that’s why you say, “OK, you left the place better than you found it.”

So, you felt after last season ended that your time as Orlando’s head coach was over?

Yeah. You can’t be up 3-1 and then let [the Pistons] walk you down and win [three] straight and you have the lows that you have. Something’s got to give, and that’s part of it. This is why you know the business. You get what it is. I don’t duck that. I can’t duck that because that’s a reality of this business we’re in.

Who did you lean on for support after you were fired?

I have my mentors. I talked to Grug [former NBA assistant coach Tim Grgurich] a little bit. [Pistons head coach] J.B. [Bickerstaff] called afterwards. We had conversations. We joke each other. I’m like, “This is twice, man. You got me fired.” But we joked. But I just leaned into my family, spent time with them. But honestly, I really was at peace. Everybody says that I was at peace, because there’s only so much you can do with what’s in front of you at the time.

The whole narrative was injuries and what’s going on, and we’re making the most out of it in this moment, getting the best out of these guys. That’s the way I saw it. And as long as I was giving everything I had to them, there’s nothing else that I could do — every aspect, every way of coaching, every way of communicating, every way of grabbing a film session. As long as we can say we did that, I was at peace with whatever was about to happen. …

I needed time just to spend time with the family and just like, breathe. Because it just it was like bang, bang. And the emotions of a season are real anyway. The emotions of losing in a seven-game series are real. It happened the last time. We did it when it was Cleveland. It weighs. I needed to just do nothing. I had to do nothing.

Why come back to coaching so quickly? Did you consider taking a lengthy time off?

I really did consider it. And I love this game. But more than anything, I love people. I love players. I love helping people become better. That’s how I started it, but it’s also how I was raised. You want to bring out the best in people. Joe believes that how you treat people, how you take care of people, how you love them, how you tell them the truth, how you lift up the tide. You hear that and you’re like, that’s exactly what I believe. And there’s ways about going about it. So, that’s why: The love of the game, love of people, love for the opportunity to help this group become the best versions that they can.

What was your message to the team when you got the job?

When I first got the job we got on a Zoom call with everybody. I talked to them about, this is the non-negotiables. This is what I believe in. This is who we are. Here’s what we’re doing. Defense first. We’re going to be physical. We’re going to be aggressive.

All players were on. And then, I [tried] to go see all of them everywhere. Just bounced around as much as I could. The only person I didn’t get connected with, like face to face, real time, was Karlo [Matković] and Jordan Poole. Jordan was flying back and forth. He was in The Bay [Area], then he was overseas. But we text all the time. It was not as much with Karlo, because the time difference from him being over there [in Croatia] was tricky. But I’ve got with everybody, and I made it a point to get in front of them.

Why was it important to try to meet with each player before training camp?

Because I wanted to know them to know what I was about. I wanted to get to know them and meet them where they are. That’s important. You got to meet people where they are versus where you want them to be. You got to help them see where they can be. But you got to meet them right where they’re at with whatever happened through the years. Whether they played, they didn’t play, the winning, the losing, the ups, the downs, they feel some kind of way. They understand the game some kind of way. So, I had to meet him exactly in that moment. “Hey, what do you got? Hey, here’s what we’re building.”

How much time did you spend with Zion?

Quite a bit. It was good. I talked to him on the phone. The first time I pulled up at his house, we worked out together. He’s strong as an ox. I was just talking to his trainer Kris [Chrisp] and him, like, “What are you doing? Where you at? I’m pulling up.” Came to the house. We went through a workout together.

I just lifted with him. I went through his circle with Kris. I want him to understand, and this is what I try to get everybody to understand, I got no skin in the game when it comes to it being about me. Zero. I literally do it all for the case of them being their best. I always take the Mike Tomlin quote, “I’m open to intimate and honest relationships.” Some people want it. Some people don’t. I’m open to it. And if you’re willing to have that, it’s a special thing that can go a long, long ways. I have that with players that I’ve been with before, because it’s bigger than the game for me. We’re going to do some special things on the court, but life is bigger than all that.

So much of this team always seems to ride on Zion. How do you get the best out of him?

You allow him to be who he is, and not what the world’s telling him he needs to be. I just need the best version of Zion every day. And I’ve challenged him. Being the best player is different for what he looks like than what another team looks like. Yeah, being the best player for him is, “OK, I got to get you defending at a high clip, because you can. I got to get you rebounding the ball, because you can. I got to get you making the right decisions, because you’re drawing three [defenders] to you every damn time. You got to make your teammates better.” It’s got to look like you’re staying and working after practice every day, like he’s been with [assistant coach] Sham [God Shammgod]. Working on your shot every day — damn near an hour after practice, every day. That’s what it looks like. Then being healthy, just making sure you’re taking care of your body.

So, it rides on what he’s able to do, but we’ve also made it a point that this team is not based on riding on one person. That is by committee, because we got some talent: Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray, J. [Jeremiah] Fears, DQ [Derik Queen], Bennedict Mathurin, Yves Missi, Karlo, freaking Herb Jones. We got the pieces to match all across the board…

I know guys are looking at me like, “Yo man, I’m coming out already? I’m not starting?” There was a preseason game I started the opposite way of the way we would start the [season] so the bench knew how it felt to start a game, and the starters knew how it felt to come off the bench. So, you feel that and you also know that — and I’ve told this to everybody in that in our gym — each one of you is going to help us win a game. Somebody in this gym is going to help us win a game. DeAndre [Jordan], T. Watt [Trendon Watford], Bryce [McGowens], Saddiq [Bey]. Somebody is going to help us win the game, and that’s the beauty of this group. It’s just constantly making sure they understand it wholeheartedly how good we can be.

What would it mean to you to bring winning to New Orleans?

There is a love and a passion behind this team and just the city and the sport. We’re right next to the [New Orleans] Saints, so we feel it every day. And then, what this city’s been through, and what they’re looking for, it would mean so damn much to be able to provide that for them.

We want to start it with just how we play. And I keep saying it over and over: There is a grit. There is a toughness. There is a togetherness. But there is a joy, there’s an honesty to people here. There’s a love. We want to play that same way. That’s what we got to represent this city, and I think we can. We have the group to do it, and it’s going to take some time. But it’s a group that can do it.

Can this team be a playoff team?

Yeah, yeah. You know the West. It’s top-heavy right now. So, we got it. You got to take care of business when you can. You got to take care of home. You got to go on the road and steal some. But more than anything, you got to play hard every night to give yourself a chance. And this group is really realizing how hard you got to play to go do some things.

What is it like having an NFL franchise in the same ownership group and having their practice facilities next to yours?

I freaking love it. [Saints head coach] Kellen [Moore] is awesome. Kellen is great. We text. And I’m going over to practices. He’s popped over here. They’ve had their guys in the gym getting shots up before their practices in the summertime a little bit. But having that connection, I love football. So, it’s like being able to steal some of the things that they do, the situations they put themselves in. That mindset of being able to take things play by play by play, and move on to the next one, but being the moment, in the real one. That’s so big for us, too. There is nothing like it. It’s great.

Have you been going to Saints home games?

I’ve been to one game. I went to the [Las Vegas] Raiders game. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I sat in the stands. Had my boys with me; my two boys loved it. They got the two jerseys. They [enjoyed] being a part of just being fans, being part of it, and just being in the stands, being around everyone. Because this city embraces the heck out of you if you embrace them.

From a culture standpoint — whether it’s the jazz, whether it’s the food, whether it’s the history, whether it’s the music, Mardi Gras — is it a hard city to figure out as a newcomer?

One hundred percent. There’s a lot to piece together. Me and my wife were talking about it. You’ll never be able to go to all the restaurants. You’ll never be able to go to all the jazz bars and see the things. You’ll get to one or two second line Sundays. You won’t be able to do it all because there’s so much history here, and it’s in different aspects. You talk about the French Quarter, the wards, all of that.

Learning it has been great for me. But the thing that stands out more than anything, besides all of that, it’s that the people are so dang genuine. So honest. So caring. So passionate. I felt that the moment you walked in. That’s what’s been awesome. They introduce themselves like they’ve known you for 10 years, and then they’re honest with you about it. Like the first comment I got was like, “Coach, good to have you in the city. Hope we gonna win. But I tell you, if you get it right, we gonna feed you.” I was like, “Yes, ma’am.”

How is your family adjusting?

They’ve adjusted very well. Kids are happy in school. My wife is happy finding workout spots and different places you can go to eat. There is a [great restaurant] right around the corner. Very good. Found some good people, good friends already. Sports are good for [my children]. They’ve really enjoyed it. Miss their friends [in Orlando], but they’ve adjusted here.

What have you learned from your last job that you apply now?

I’ve changed a lot, but I still have to be myself. What you think you’re doing in one job and it’s not getting across, I’ve made it a point to do here, which is those lines of accountability and communication — holding that line and holding that standard. I’m always going to be caring. I’m always going to be loving. I’m always going to be honest.

It’s just, some people hear things differently. So you’ve got to learn each guy and how they hear your message and make it a point across the board. And I’m learning so much of that from like Joe D., Troy and Jordan. It’s straight line, straight shooter across the board about what we’re doing, the non-negotiables, and how we go about doing the business every day.

How about Joe? What has your relationship been like with him?

Excellent. I lean on him a lot. You’d be crazy not to. He’s from here [Louisiana]. Hall of Famer. Teammate award. [NBA Finals] MVP. All those things that he’s done. Executive of the Year. Put teams together. How can you not go into his office and be like, “What do you see? How can I be better? How can I help this team be better?” And he’ll give the advice, but he’s never doing it out of a way of like, “I know more.” He’s doing out of a way of like, “I’m helping you become your best version,” because that’s what he believes for this team and for this organization.

When you get the Pelicans winning, what do you think it would be like in Smoothie King Center?

It was loud [Nov. 20] and it was the home opener and it wasn’t even packed all the way. It’s going to be incredible. You come down here and you get in this arena when this thing is rocking, it’s a different level. It’s loud. I went to Game 7 during the [2026 NBA] Finals with OKC against Indiana. It’s loud like that here when it gets going. Deafening. I’ve been in the playoff series Game 6 in Orlando. When you come home and you got to get the game or you’re done, deafening loud. It’s that when this thing is going [in New Orleans] and I know that.

It’s more festive. The music is live. It’s the city [vibe] in the Smoothie King arena. It’s the city, and that’s what you want to do. That’s what you want to have. You want to let people be themselves and enjoy this. And this is why I say over and over and over again: This team has to represent the city. Has to.

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