Report: Pelicans, assistant coach Teresa Weatherspoon parting ways
After joining the staff in 2020, Teresa Weatherspoon will no longer be an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. The team is parting ways with the 57-year-old, who reportedly turned down other chances in hopes of greater opportunities in New Orleans, per Charania.
Weatherspoon joined the organization as a player-development coach in 2019 before being promoted to assistant coach. During her tenure, she was lauded as someone to watch in the running to become the NBA's first female head coach.
The former WNBA star is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Star. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 after leading the New York Liberty to four WNBA Finals.
Nicknamed "T-Spoon," she was a head coach at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech, for six full seasons, notching a 99-71 record and two NCAA tournament appearances. Before that, she was head coach of the now-defunct Westchester Phantoms of the ABA, a semi-pro men's league.
She had a heralded rapport with players, including star forward Zion Williamson. Last year, he said that Weatherspoon helped him through the difficult recovery process from a broken right foot, which sidelined him for his entire third season.
“I had a moment where I was leaving the arena,” Williamson said. “She asked me, ‘Are you all right?’ Usually, I would brush it off and say, ‘Yeah, I’m going home.’ But I just trust T-Spoon so much. I said, ‘I’m not. I’m not OK.’ Her response wasn’t words. She cried for me. She literally just cried for me. I took that moment and said, 'I have someone special in my corner.'"
In 2021, Williamson credited Weatherspoon with helping him to add a baseline jumper to his game, bolstering his confidence and reminding him to have fun.
The news of her departure comes after Charania reported earlier this week the Pelicans are interested in trading up for G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson in the NBA Draft. Yahoo Sports' Krysten Peek has Henderson projected to go No. 2 overall to the Charlotte Hornets.
The Pelicans “would consider” trading Williamson for Henderson, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
That said, Stein also reported that every team with a top-five draft pick, aside from the Spurs at No. 1, could be interested in trading out. While the Pelicans are reportedly “less inclined” to sacrifice Brandon Ingram for Henderson, Williamson would likely attract some interest.
Williamson averaged 27 points per game on an impressive 61.1% shooting in 2020-21, his only season playing more than 60 games.
Trade speculation aside, this move is part of a series of personnel changes the Pelicans have made since finishing ninth in the Western Conference last season.
The team hired James Borrego as an assistant coach, who worked as the Hornets' head coach for four years. New Orleans head coach Willie Green is 78-86 in his two seasons at the helm. Borrego was working for the Pelicans as an assistant when Green was a player with the New Orleans Hornets in 2010-11.
With Williamson and Ingram both missing significant time, the Pelicans also made plans "to restructure their player care and performance team" this offseason, according to a report from Christian Clark of the Times-Picayune last month.
With the draft and free agency approaching, the possibilities are endless for the moves New Orleans could continue to make in their efforts to ensure a better showing this upcoming season.
