New Orleans Pelicans’ Herb Jones during an NBA Cares event in Manila. –ROMMEL FUERTES/INQUIRER
ANGAT, Bulacan—After New Orleans lost in the first round of the 2021 NBA Western Conference playoffs, Herb Jones has been nothing but focused in the preseason, training to finally play with a marquee talent.
The 6-foot-8 juggernaut has expressed his excitement to finally play alongside the Pelicans’ cornerstone player, Zion Williamson.
“I’m super excited, seeing what he has done before, I know he has a chip on his shoulder [for] sitting out for a year. Anybody that loves basketball would hate sitting out for a year,” Jones said after holding a basketball clinic as part of the NBA Cares event here on Monday.
The sophomore stud also knows, however, that excitement is not enough to improve from last season.
Improving defensively is a plan Jones aims to achieve, not just to complement Williamson’s game but also to help the Pelicans rack up more wins.
“That’s [DPOY] an award I want to have but it’s not necessarily a goal of mine. I just try to go out each night and do whatever my coaches need me to do and that’s guard the best player and box out or set screens,” the University of Alabama alum said.
The all-rookie second team member averaged 9.5 points, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in his debut season.
New Orleans will have a returning Williamson, sharpshooter CJ McCollum, pesky defender Jose Alvarado and all-around threat Brandon Ingram but the competition remains unpredictable with moves like Rudy Gobert to Minnesota and Christian Wood to Dallas.
But the 24-year-old bruiser believes the Pelicans will make a statement come October, despite a stacked Western Conference.
“We’re just going to show up and compete regardless of who we’re playing, who’s stepping on the court or who’s gonna show up and compete. We’ll let the chips fall where it may.”