The New Orleans Pelicans played their regular season game against the Miami Heat in South Florida on Wednesday night with heavy hearts as the city was reeling from a terrorist attack that left more than a dozen people dead.
Pelicans head coach Willie Green was among the team officials who spoke out about the attack, which occurred in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.
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Bourbon Street sign on the Caseya Center scoreboard as a memorial to those killed when a vehicle plowed into a crowd before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1. is listed. Miami in 2025. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladke)
Mr Green said he was “devastated” by it. He said he found out what happened in a New Year's message from his father. The Pelicans play their home games at the Smoothie King Center, about a mile southwest of where the terrorist attack occurred.
“It was a senseless act of violence,” Green said. “We've talked a little bit about this with the players, but we just live in a time and a world where you just don't know where you're safe.
“Schools, churches, people should be able to go out and have a good time and walk down the street. I can only imagine what he has to deal with in his life.” ”
Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III said he was aware that not only his chef but also his mother was downtown during the New Year's celebration. He said he feared for their safety, but found they were okay.
“I feel like you breathed a little bit of a sigh of relief,” Murphy said. “But there were many people today who didn't hear that sigh of relief.”
People stand at Caseya Center during a memorial to those killed when a vehicle crashed into a crowd in New Orleans before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans in Miami, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. New Orleans Pelicans players. (AP Photo/Lynn Sladke)
“It's really unfortunate,” Murphy added.
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“People are trying to have fun and start the new year with a different mindset, but right now there are a lot of families who have to deal with this tragedy,” he said. “And I have a lot of prayers and thoughts for those families, because it just doesn't make sense.
“That shouldn't happen. You can go to Bourbon Street and have fun and not have to worry about ending up losing someone you love.”
Former NBA player Antonio Daniels appeared on the Pelicans game broadcast. He and commentator Joel Myers expressed their condolences over the attack.
Sugar Bowl fans from the University of Georgia and Notre Dame stop for photos as New Orleans police and federal agents investigate a suspected terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Wednesday, January 1, 2025. I'm taking pictures. (Chris Granger/New Orleans Legal Advocacy Bureau, via AP)
“If you think about what Bourbon Street stands for, it's a place of joy, it's a place of laughter. It's a place for marriages, it's a place for bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, it's a place where people It’s a gathering place,” Daniels said. “And then, as Coach Green said, a senseless act of violence came to tear this city apart? My heart hurts. My heart hurts for this city. It's a shame. It's unfortunate that this is the dark world we live in today.”
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Miami won the game 119-108.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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