TORONTO – The NBA’s 2019-20 schedulemaker was rather generous to New Orleans, granting the Pelicans a franchise-record 30 national television appearances. An equally gracious gift arrived Aug. 12 for rookie guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was briefly stunned to hear that his initial official NBA game would take place in his hometown of Toronto, Canada’s largest city.
“When I heard it, I kind of froze, (to know) my very first NBA game is going to be at home,” Alexander-Walker said on Media Day. “My mom gets to see it, my grandmother gets to see it, my uncles. That experience in itself, not too many players can say they’ve had the opportunity to do.