7:00 p.m. ET
Andrew Lopez ESPN
IN THE FINALS On the night of the All-Star break, New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, forward Brandon Ingram and coach Willie Green went to a small, private dinner at the FLINT by Baltaire in Phoenix.
The Pelicans had gone 1-4 since the Feb. 8 trade that sent Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada to the Portland Trail Blazers for McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell. At 23-36, they had just a 10% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN’s BPI predictions.
Ingram and McCollum are ball-dominating playmakers, and Green had to figure out how to put both players in positions to be successful in his first season as head coach.
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So the three chatted and enjoyed a Cabernet Sauvignon. McCollum, one of the NBA’s top wine connoisseurs who runs his own winery in Oregon, had ordered a 2015 but they were served a 2018, a critical mistake. McCollum quickly called the bug and they settled on 2017, a quick fix.
This, they say, was the turning point of the Pelicans’ season, a trio gathered around a table of oysters, french fries, donuts, sherbet and the wrong wine.
“I think it set the stage and tone for the rest of the season and kind of allowed us to connect on another level,” McCollum told ESPN. “It kind of allowed us to all be on the same page to express what we want and feel like we can achieve it together, like we’re going to do.”
McCollum, a nine-year veteran, told Ingram over dinner that he wants to have an open line of communication with him to discuss the game at every opportunity.
“It was amazing for me to hear him say everything he said,” says Ingram. “Everything he’s said, everything he’s been through, everything he’s been through in the league. His take on the game, he said I could communicate with him as I need to. It was helpful for me.”
The Pelicans went 13-10 after the All-Star break and finished the regular season as the No. 9 seed. While Ingram has missed 13 games since the trade, New Orleans is 8-2 with McCollum and Ingram in the lineup. Ingram is listed as likely in Wednesday’s play-in game against the San Antonio Spurs.
McCollum never missed a postseason while playing alongside All-Star Damian Lillard at Portland. But for those team dinners to continue this season, McCollum must manage this young Pelicans team that has very little playoff experience and is still without its franchise superstar.
LEADS TO THAT The Trail Blazers’ locker room at the Moda Center commemorates one of the most iconic plays of McCollum’s tenure with the organization. The picture shows McCollum rising, flexing his wrist, the ball drifting in the air towards the basket as time ticked by in Game 7 of the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets – one of the lasting memories of his time in Portland .
Every day, when Lillard walks into the dressing room, he is reminded of his friend’s accomplishments. The two had three 50-win seasons. They made it to the Western Conference Finals once — McCollum’s shot to the wall got them there — but they knew they were going to hit their ceiling.
“We knew it would come at some point. We had this conversation. We knew that day would come, but when the day actually came, it was like ‘Damn,'” says Lillard. “We’ve come a long way. But s— all good things come to an end.”
Lillard and McCollum always sat next to each other on the team plane. They went on vacation together. They drove to and from home games together. Even their mothers became close.
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Every year at Media Day, the pair vowed to hold each other accountable throughout the season no matter what.
“It’s weird, man. It’s weird to see him enjoying playing with someone else,” says Lillard. “It’s almost like a little bit of jealousy, like… man, he has fun playing with them. I’ve always said me and CJ really are [partners]. This is really my friend. I’ve always known what he’s capable of.”
So much of what he did in Portland was an attempt to align his style with Lillard’s.
McCollum says his leadership style came from his parents. His mother stressed the importance of communicating and holding others accountable. His father taught him that if you want to get respect from people, you have to give respect back.
Sometimes, he learned, that meant being direct—and blunt.
“CJ supported me in that and then he was the person who was the A-hole,” says Lillard. “He will say what needs to be said. I wear different hats with everyone on this team. CJ just said, ‘Want everyone to win? You BS-ing. You have to work on your game.’ I think he’ll bring that kind of presence.”
Nance, who was involved in the Portland trade, says he saw McCollum embrace his role as a seasoned leader in New Orleans. In Portland, Nance says McCollum assisted Lillard in discussions with teammates. Now, he says, McCollum is “the one trying to get the message across.”
“I can be an A-hole sometimes,” says McCollum. “I’ve been very direct, very blunt, but I can also be an encouraging teammate and show different types of leadership. But based on the way Dame took it, I had to be that guy, right, for us to be successful. “
McCollum no longer has an all-star veteran as the franchise’s lead voice. He needs to talk now – and he knows it.
ON A LAST After four games and a seven-day West Coast road trip, the Pelicans have had several team dinners, including one at an Italian restaurant near their Los Angeles hotel and one at a steakhouse in Sacramento. But it wasn’t the location that mattered; it was the seating plan.
At both, McCollum sat alongside Zion Williamson, who was not on the team when McCollum arrived in New Orleans while recovering from a season-long foot injury. The two chatted for hours, joking, bonding, a duo the team hopes can be foundational for years to come.
“They give us another dynamic rolling finisher. They give us a player who can dribble, who is also selfless and who also wants to win,” said David Griffin, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations. “It’s exciting to think about what they can achieve together because their mentalities are really a good match.”
When the season ends, McCollum says he plans to go to Williamson’s house to get to know him even better and do the same with other teammates. He will also organize meetings for the team in Las Vegas during the Summer League, he says.
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“And I think that’s how you build chemistry,” says McCollum. “That’s how you build cohesion.”
While McCollum’s leadership style was important to New Orleans off the court, his impact on the court was even greater.
“First of all through his game,” says Ingram when asked why McCollum’s message resonates so well. “He comes out and tries to be consistent every night. The guys respect him and have seen him in this league.”
In his first 25 games with New Orleans (minus a five-minute zero-point performance in the regular-season finals), McCollum averages 25.2 points, 6.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game on 49.5% shooting. All those grades would be career highs over an entire season. He also shoots an average of 39.9% out of 3 with a 29.5% usage rate.
Part of the team’s recent success has been moving to a new starting lineup with McCollum as point guard, Ingram and rookie Herb Jones on wings, and Jaxson Hayes and Jonas Valanciunas as power forward and center.
This lineup has posted an offensive rating of 122.6 with a net rating of 8.2 in 142 minutes. Since Feb. 14, the Pelicans have won five games by 30 points or more — a new franchise record for a single season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
McCollum’s former backcourt colleague, who says he’s seen more Pelicans games this season than he has in his entire career, is hardly surprised by the success.
“I thought when the swap happened, when I looked at the talent that they have in New Orleans, I figured it’s exactly what they need,” says Lillard. “Look at their team, they’ve got the talent, they’ve mixed youth with a bit of experience and you throw him into the mix and you really have something. I think it’s taking shape.”
So while the Pelicans are forced out of the play-in tournament without Williamson, the team is optimistic about McCollum’s ability to lead the fledgling franchise and its eager, injured Superstar.
“We definitely believed in CJ and his ability on the floor,” says Green. “We saw a lot of his films in Portland. … He’s a competitor. We see it all coming together here in New Orleans.”