NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans have hired Joe Dumars — a former NBA champion as both a player and an executive with the Detroit Pistons — as their executive vice president of basketball operations.
Dumars, 61, takes over for David Griffin, who was fired on Monday after a six-year stint that coincided with the drafting of power forward Zion Williamson in 2019.
“I have a great deal of respect for what Joe has already accomplished as a player and executive, but more importantly, I admire his character and leadership," Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, who also owns the NFL's New Orleans Saints, said in a written statement coinciding with Wednesday's announcement. “His vast experience and relationships throughout the NBA, along with his strong leadership qualities, will have a tremendous impact on our organization.”
Dumars' decision to join the Pelicans represents a homecoming of sorts. He grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and played college basketball for McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
“This is truly a full circle moment,” Dumars said in a written statement released by the Pelicans. “I grew up as a Saints fan and the first AAU basketball team I played on at 16 years old was based in New Orleans, so this opportunity is very special to me on a personal level.”
Dumars comes to the Pelicans after three years in the NBA office, serving as an executive vice president and helping to oversee, among other things, player discipline.
“Joe brought tremendous credibility to his role at the league office and is one of the most genuine and respected people in all of basketball,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "His exceptional playing career and tenure as an executive provided him with an elite understanding of the game and strong relationships around the NBA. We are grateful for Joe’s leadership over the past three years and wish him well as he begins his new role with the Pelicans.”
Dumars’ first order of business will be to decide whether to retain coach Willie Green, who has a year remaining on his contract. Next, he’ll have to decide whether the Pelicans continue to build around the injury-plagued Williamson — who has missed more games than he’s played — or deal him elsewhere and move in a new direction.
When he plays, the 6-foot-6, 284-pound Williamson has been as dazzling and productive as expected when he was drafted first overall out of Duke. He has averaged 24.7 points in 214 games. But injuries have sidelined him for 258 regular season games, as well as every postseason contest New Orleans has played since he was drafted.
“There is a lot of talent on this roster," Dumars said. "My vision is to build a disciplined team that is built on toughness, smart decision-making and a no-excuses mindset.
“I am proud to have grown up in Louisiana and know how passionate, resilient and tough we are as a community,” Dumars added. "Those characteristics will be the foundation of our team’s culture.”
Dumars played guard for the Detroit teams that won NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. He also ran the Pistons’ front office when they won another title in 2004. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Since leaving the Pistons in 2014, Dumars has worked in Sacramento’s front office and then moved on to the role as executive vice president and head of basketball operations for the NBA. The NBA’s sportsmanship award bears his name.
“Joe was someone I was very familiar with, having dealt with him over the past few years at league meetings,” Benson said. “My decision today was not hastily made, and not without spending valuable time talking to players, coaches and league officials.”
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FILE - Joe Dumars, then-Detroit Pistons' president of basketball operations, speaks during a news conference in Auburn Hills, Mich, July 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems was scheduled to be executed Thursday evening in Florida for the shotgun killings of his girlfriend and her three young children in 1998.
Barring a late reprieve, Jeffrey Hutchinson is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke. The execution, if carried out, will be the fourth in Florida this year under death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a fifth execution planned for May 15.
Hutchinson awoke at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, prison officials said.
“He has remained compliant,” said Ted Veerman, spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
Hutchinson had three visitors Thursday, including his sister and a spiritual adviser. His last meal was salmon, mahi-mahi, asparagus, baked potato and ice tea, Veerman said.
“He’s been calm and in good spirits,” Veerman said.
Hutchinson, 62, has long claimed he is innocent and that two unknown assailants perpetrated the killings as part of a U.S. government conspiracy aimed at silencing him over his activism on claims of Gulf War illnesses and other issues affecting veterans. Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, part of it as an elite Ranger.
Court records, however, show that on the night of the murders in Crestview, Florida, Hutchinson had argued with his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, then packed his clothes and guns into a truck. Hutchinson went to a bar and drank some beer, telling staff there that Flaherty was angry with him before leaving abruptly.
A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with the three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. All were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun that was found on a kitchen counter. Hutchinson was located by police in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.
At his 2001 trial, Hutchinson based his defense on a claim that two unknown men came to the house, killing Flaherty and the children after he struggled with them. A jury found Hutchinson guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life in prison for Flaherty's killing and three death sentences for the children.
Since then, Hutchinson has undertaken numerous unsuccessful appeals, many focused on mental health problems linked to his Army service. In late April, his lawyers sought to delay his execution date by claiming Hutchinson is insane and therefore cannot be put to death.
Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw rejected that argument.
“This Court finds that Jeffrey Hutchinson does not have any current mental illness,” Colaw said in his April 27 order. “This Court finds that Mr. Hutchinson's purported delusion is demonstrably false. Jeffrey Hutchinson does not lack the mental capacity to understand the reason for the pending execution.”
In their court filings, Hutchinson's lawyers said he suffers from Gulf War Illness — a series of health problems stemming from the 1990-1991 war in Iraq — as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia related to his claim that he was targeted by government surveillance.
One of his lawyers, Chelsea Shirley, said Hutchinson has “a decades-long delusion that he is being executed to silence his efforts to expose government secrets. Two experts have concluded that he is not competent for execution. Based on these facts, we believe the court was wrong to find Mr. Hutchinson competent to be executed, but we are not surprised.”
Florida’s lethal injection protocol uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
So far this year, 14 people have been executed in the U.S., including three in Florida, with Hutchinson to become the fourth. A fifth Florida execution is scheduled May 15 for Glen Rogers, who was convicted of killing a woman at a motel in 1997. Rogers was also convicted of another woman's murder in California and is believed by investigators to have killed others around the country.
This image provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Jeffrey Hutchinson. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP)
