Pelicans name Jamahl Mosley new head coach

Jamahl Mosley (Twitter) (left with Rick Carlisle)

According to the Associated Press on Monday, the New Orleans Pelicans have named Jamahl Mosley of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as their new head coach. Mosley was fired by the Orlando Magic as their head coach on May 4. Ironically, Mosley’s firing came almost two months after he signed a four-year extension with the Magic.

Mosley takes over from James Borrego of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Borrego had been the interim head coach of the Pelicans since November 15. 

This past season, the Pelicans had a record of 26 wins and 56 losses. They were 11th in the Western Conference with a winning percentage of .317. New Orleans management is looking for someone to get more out of their star players–Trey Murphy III, Zion Williamson, Saddiq Bey and Dejounte Murray. In Borrego’s defense and the Pelicans prior coaches, a serious problem in New Orleans over the last few years has been the health of their starting five.

Mosley spent the last five seasons with the Magic. In 410 games, he had a record of 189 wins and 211 losses for a winning percentage of .461. Mosley did get the Magic to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, but could not win a playoff series. Before coaching Orlando, Mosley was an assistant coach and involved in player development with the Denver Nuggets from 2006 to 2010, was an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2010 to 2014, and was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks from 2014 to 2021.

It should be noted that Mosley never played in the NBA. However, he did play professionally in Mexico, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Finland. While in Australia, Mosley was with the Victoria Titans of the National Basketball League and won the best sixth man award in 2002.