Pelicans' Green Sparked NBA Coaching Journey with OKC Visit

In the ever-evolving landscape of the NBA, the journey of a coach can be as fascinating as that of a player. For Willie Green, the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, his coaching career took an unexpected turn during a seemingly innocuous visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder organization in 2016.

At the time, Green had just hung up his sneakers after a 12-year playing career, and he was exploring the possibility of transitioning into coaching. With a desire to learn and grow, he reached out to his contacts, and one name stood out: Sam Presti, the general manager of the Thunder.

Presti, known for his forward-thinking approach, extended an invitation to Green to visit the team, even though there weren’t any open positions on the coaching staff. It was a chance for Green to immerse himself in the inner workings of an NBA organization and potentially plant the seeds for a future relationship.

“Sam is interesting with this stuff,” Mark Daigneault, the current head coach of the Thunder, said. “If there’s someone in the basketball world who’s interesting to him, even if we don’t have a job open, he likes having those people come through. You can learn from those people. Their impressions of the environment is valuable feedback for us.”

For Green, this visit proved to be a pivotal moment. As he spent time with the coaching staff, including Daigneault, who was then the head coach of the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the OKC Blue, he found himself drawn to the allure of coaching.

“(Presti) just opened the doors for me and let me come in,” Green recalled. “I was with the guys on the floor and with the coaching staff. It was the first time that I felt like, ‘OK, this may be something that I want to do.’”

Daigneault, himself a rising star in the coaching ranks, recognized Green’s unwavering dedication and seriousness from the outset. “He was very serious about coaching,” Daigneault said. “He had that from the beginning. … He didn’t come in just trying to dip his toe in the water. He was very, very focused on becoming a good coach the minute he decided to pursue that.”

Green’s meteoric rise in the coaching world began shortly after his visit to OKC. In August 2016, he landed his first assistant coaching job with the Golden State Warriors, and he didn’t waste any time climbing the ranks. After stints with the Warriors (2016-19) and the Phoenix Suns (2019-21), Green was hired as the head coach of the Pelicans in July 2021, at the age of 39.

Now, as the Pelicans and Thunder face off in the NBA playoffs, Green and Daigneault find themselves on opposite sides of the court, but united in their shared respect and admiration for one another’s coaching journeys.

“I thought about just what a blessing it is for both he and I,” Green said, his usual stoic demeanor briefly giving way to a smile. “For him to be voted coach of the year, it’s much deserved. We have an opportunity to go against each other in the playoffs. It’s pretty cool, and it’s a true blessing.”

Daigneault, too, expressed his admiration for Green’s accomplishments, noting the steadiness and principled approach that the Pelicans coach has instilled in his team. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Daigneault said. “They’re very organized, and he’s a very principled person and coach. That shows up with the way that the team plays. … He’s forged himself into a very good coach in a very short period of time.”

As the Pelicans and Thunder battle it out on the court, the story of Willie Green’s coaching journey serves as a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected paths can lead to the greatest successes. His visit to OKC in 2016 may have seemed like a mere stepping stone at the time, but it ultimately paved the way for a coaching career that has already reached remarkable heights.

In the ever-competitive world of the NBA, where coaching tenures can be fleeting and pressure is immense, Green and Daigneault represent a new generation of leaders who are forging their paths with unwavering determination and a deep respect for the game and those who shape it.