MIAMI (AP) — Willie Green got the text from his father early Wednesday. The first part wished him Happy New Year. The second offered prayers for New Orleans.
That's how the coach of the Pelicans found out about the horror happening in his city.
“I'm devastated,” Green said.
The Pelicans had a game to play on Wednesday in Miami — and they arrived to play with their minds elsewhere. New Orleans plays its home games about 1 mile southwest of the intersection of Bourbon Street and Canal Street, where an Army veteran driving a pickup truck bearing the flag of the Islamic State group killed 15 people and injured at least 30 others early Wednesday when he slammed the vehicle into revelers in the city's famed French Quarter.
“A senseless act of violence,” Green said. “We've discussed it a bit with our players. But we're just living in times and in a world where you just don’t know where you’re safe. Schools, churches, people should be able to go out and have a good time and walk the streets. It's devastating. And I can only imagine what those families are going through, what they have to deal with now for the rest of their lives.”
The Pelicans are scheduled to play at home on Friday against Washington. The attack forced a one-day delay of the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia, a College Football Playoff quarterfinal. Originally set for Wednesday night, it was moved to Thursday afternoon.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the news out of New Orleans, when displayed on televisions in the team weight room on Wednesday, brought everyone “to an absolute halt.”
“It's terrifying,” Spoelstra said. “It's horrific. Until we all find out more details, you pray for all the families and everybody that's experiencing loss. The unknown, also, is terrifying.”
The Heat held a pregame moment of silence Wednesday for the victims in New Orleans, adding that to one previously planned to commemorate the life of President Jimmy Carter — who died earlier this week.
On the Pelicans' television broadcast, play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers and analyst Antonio Daniels both expressed their anguish over what happened in New Orleans.
“If you think about what Bourbon Street represents, it’s a place of joy. It’s a place of laughter. It’s a place of marriages, of bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, a place where people come together,” Daniels said. “And like Coach Green said, a senseless act of violence comes to try and tear this city apart? My heart hurts. My heart hurts for this city. It’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that this is the dark world that we live in today.”
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