Pelicans name James Borrego interim head coach

James Borrego (YouTube)

The New Orleans Pelicans have named James Borrego of Albuquerque, New Mexico their interim head coach according to Brett Martel of the Associated Press on Saturday. Borrego takes over from Willie Green of Detroit, Michigan.

Borrego has interim head coaching experience in the National Basketball Association with the Orlando Magic in 2014-15, and four seasons as the full-time head coach with the Charlotte Hornets from 2018 to 2022. In that time, he only had a coaching record of 148 wins and 183 losses for a winning percentage of .447. Another reason for concern for Pelicans fans is that in the five seasons Borrego has been a NBA head coach, he has never guided his team to the NBA playoffs.

You could make the argument that Borrego was only marginally more successful than Green has been as the Pelicans head coach since the 2021 season. In five seasons coaching the Pelicans, Green had a record of 150 wins and 190 losses in 340 games for a winning percentage of .441.

However, Borrego seems to know the Pelicans franchise as he has been their associate head coach since 2023. He also won the NBA Finals two seasons as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and 2007.

It has been a tough start for the Pelicans, as they are winners of only two of their first 12 games. They defeated the Hornets 116-104 on November 4 and the Dallas Mavericks 101-99 on November 5. Since their back-to-back wins, the Pelicans lost four straight games leading up to the Green firing, by a combined total of 52 points. They are worst in the West.