Jrue Holiday on Zion Williamson: ‘He’s way too good to just be going to the Play-In Tournament every year’

Jrue Holiday on Giannis Antetokounmpo: “And he’s also the cheapest guy I know! He’s got all that money, but again, I think it’s just because of where he started. I mean, he really didn’t have any money, and now he’s still living like he doesn’t have any money. You can’t change that.” -via YouTube / December 3, 2024

Jrue Holiday on Giannis Antetokounmpo: “I’ve never seen him take a game off. I’ve never seen him take a practice off. I’m telling you, there were times—matter of fact, remember when Giannis got hurt in that Atlanta series, during the Eastern Conference Finals? He was out for about a week or whatever. Once we got to the Finals, the practice before the Finals was the first day he actually practiced with us. I’m talking about, he’s going 150 miles an hour—taking off, dunking, going all out. We’re like, ‘If you don’t slow your ass down, we don’t need you for today. We need you tomorrow!’ But that’s just the type of mentality and hunger that Giannis has every single game, literally in everything he does on the court.” -via YouTube / December 3, 2024

Jrue Holiday: Let’s fast forward to the Pelican days. Obviously, I played on some super talented teams, but that Pelicans team with AD, DeMarcus Cousins, and me—when you look back at it, it was a cheat code. There was nobody at that time who could match up with AD. Nobody. And there sure as hell wasn’t anyone who could match up with DeMarcus. Then, you throw me into the mix. It was… oh my gosh. If we could have kept that team together—there are so many times I think, ‘Man, if we had kept our Philly team together, we would have been really good.’ But if we had kept that Pelicans team together? Oh my gosh. Nobody could see DeMarcus. Nobody could stop him. He was like a 5. And we still had Rondo, we had me, E’Twaun Moore, and Nico. We had three-point shooting and inside presence. What are you supposed to do when you come down the court as an opponent and see DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis coming at you? Nothing. What do you plan to do? Nothing. -via YouTube / December 3, 2024

Jrue Holiday: “I think Zion is one of the most talented or most gifted players that I’ve ever seen. His athletic ability, how he can get to the rim, get by people—it’s unbelievable. And I feel like sometimes it’s about fit. Maybe, I don’t know, they have to adjust the fit to him down there. Or, if needed, he might have to slide out and find a better fit somewhere else. -via YouTube / December 3, 2024

“At least when I had him as a rookie, it was amazing; that’s just what he was capable of. They talk about the weight gain and doing all that, but I’ve seen him at 280, 290 still above the rim.” Holiday continued by discussing how he would influence Williamson if he were his coach. “For one, for him, I’d have him play a little more defense. That’s not a knock on him, I think that would make him the talent that he is, it would elevate his game. Offensively I think he’s got it, I think he does what he’s supposed to do. I think his play for other people is that he gets to the rim and gets to the free throw line, but I think for me, if he challenged himself defensively and his teammates saw that, I feel like they would follow.” -via Clutch Points / December 2, 2024

One of the NBA executives told HoopsHype, “New Orleans should move McCollum, and they’ll likely move Ingram for another proven player.” Yet, as always, the success of the Pelicans hinges on the health of Williamson, who another NBA executive told HoopsHype he’d only consider trading one first-round pick to acquire due to his consistent durability concerns. -via HoopsHype / December 2, 2024