LOS ANGELES – Some NBA teams and players try their darnedest to claim that despite rampant and virtually-unavoidable exposure to distractions like Twitter, 24-hour media coverage, as well as feedback from a combination of fans, friends and family, they’ve successfully been able to “block out all of the noise.” The playoff-bound 2017-18 New Orleans Pelicans are not one of those teams.
In the visiting locker room Monday, following a 113-100 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, it took zero prompting from reporters to get the Pelicans to begin discussing their pride in proving cynics wrong about their season.