CJ McCollum came to New Orleans to lead. Now, he’s finding the best way to do it (2024)

While the New Orleans accent isn’t an easy one to master, it’s taken CJ McCollum less than two years to figure out his version.

McCollum attended an event for season-ticket holders on Sunday where Pelicans players answered questions from fans at the team’s practice facility.

Once it was McCollum’s turn to express his thoughts on fans in the Crescent City, he jumped at the opportunity to show off his impression.

“There’s definitely that southern hospitality. You notice it right away from how they greet you,” McCollum said calmly before seamlessly transitioning:

“Hey, baaaby! How you doing, baaaby?”

CJ gets the southern hospitality 😂 pic.twitter.com/3DSLnyQTkQ

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 21, 2024

The crowd burst into laughter. (As a native New Orleanian, I must admit he did a decent job.)

In the relatively short time McCollum has spent in the place he calls his “new home,” he’s learned that New Orleans fans aren’t just unique because of their southern drawl. They’re fiercely loyal to those who embrace the culture of the city, and they don’t mind being direct with their thoughts when they see those figures in person.

Which is why, after getting the initial pop from the crowd, McCollum generated even more laughs when playing out a version of a conversation he’s become used to hearing whenever he roams around the town.

“We gotta get that win, baaaby. You gotta get Zion the ball more. You’ve got to be a point guard, baaaby. What is you doing out there, baby? We need more wins.”

The best jokes contain a kernel of truth, and this one was no exception.

While McCollum has been one of the Pelicans’ most consistent players since they acquired him just before the 2022 trade deadline from the Portland Trail Blazers, his NBA franchise for eight-and-a-half seasons, there have certainly been rumblings from those who follow the team about his individual performance and some of the team’s shortcomings in low moments. When he was initially traded to New Orleans in February 2022, he thought it would be a prime opportunity for him to show he could be the on-court orchestrator for an up-and-coming team that needed guidance. Almost two years later, his role has evolved into something slightly different than what he envisioned.

“It’s been a process for myself and for the team to figure out the best way for me to fit next to our main guys,” McCollum told The Athletic in an exclusive interview. “We’ve had some ups and downs, but I definitely feel like I’m in a good place.”

Through it all, McCollum has repeatedly expressed a desire to play whatever role works best next to Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Unfortunately for him, prior to this season, it had been tough to figure out precisely what that role looks like because he hasn’t spent enough time with Williamson and Ingram learning through trial and error.

“It’s hard to have success consistently when you’re injured. Not just individually, but as a team,” McCollum said. “The continuity, the consistency, the chemistry, they just weren’t there for us.”

This season, with McCollum, Williamson and Ingram finally healthy at the same time –they’ve played 23 games together in 2023-24, including 19 since the start of December – things are starting to trend in the right direction. The Pelicans are rising up the Western Conference standings, and McCollum has found the role continuity, consistency and chemistry he’s been seeking since he arrived.

In 29 games, he’s averaging 19.9 points and five assists while shooting better than 50 percent on 2-pointers and 45 percent on 3-pointers. He’s accepted he doesn’t need to impose his will on games to succeed. Instead, he’s learned to take a step back, allowing Williamson and Ingram to handle more playmaking duties. He’s been more selective with his aggression and calculated with his shot selection.

“The good part about my game is that, with the way I train and the way my skill set is set up, I can play in any environment,” he said. “I can play any style of basketball. My game suits any system and any group of players. With this group, it’s just about me making the right plays and finding my offense without taking away opportunities for BI and Z to get theirs.”

And though his on-court influence has become more indirect, McCollum has gained respect for the Crescent City’s direct approach in other ways. It’s much like his own –even if it sounds slightly different.

After almost every one of his games, McCollum’s phone gets flooded with clips of different things he’s doing on the court. After 11 years in the NBA, he has it down to a science.

With the help of his trainers and a few of his old coaches, McCollum separates all of his plays – pick-and-rolls, 3-pointers, turnovers, etc. – into different folders and he watches each of them individually to get a grasp of what he’s doing well and what needs to improve.

Ahead of his move to New Orleans, McCollum asked for clips of Williamson and Ingram so he could learn about his new teammates and how they liked to operate.

As he began to go through his normal process, something jumped into his mind immediately.

“It was strange watching all these clips and not seeing any black and red or the Blazers logo at center court,” McCollum told The Athletic in 2022. “That’s when it really hit me, like, ‘Wow, everything’s about to change.’ But that was exciting for me. Change can be a good thing.”

After McCollum was traded to the Pelicans in 2022, he laid out a specific set of goal to accomplish on and off the court.

He viewed the deal as a win-win for both himself and his new team: He could help a young Pelicans squad that was desperate to get over the hump and they, in turn, would give him the freedom to execute a role he wasn’t allowed to play as much during his time with Damian Lillard in Portland. He had a chance to become the battle-tested point guard who was operating as the floor general for one of the most gifted offensive duos in the NBA.

It was a chance to prove he still had another level to reach as he entered the prime of his career.

“You get to control the offense — the tempo, the flow. It’s just a different game when you have the ball in your hands from the beginning. I haven’t had this since college,” McCollum said in 2022. “I get to play a role where it’s my responsibility to orchestrate, to organize, to make sure we’re calling the right plays. … I have to be that guy for our team all the time. I get to show that I can handle this role night-to-night and get buckets the way I did in Portland.”

The hope was that Williamson would eventually come back at the end of the 2021-22 season after recovering from offseason foot surgery. Instead, Williamson never returned, and McCollum was asked to take on a much bigger scoring role than expected.

He initially excelled with the added responsibilities, averaging career-bests 24.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists as New Orleans made an improbable run through the Play-In Tournament before falling to the Suns in a tightly-contested first-round series. But McCollum knew the path to a much deeper playoff run had to look different.

For the Pelicans to reach their ultimate goals, Williamson and Ingram had to be the ones leading the way.

“We were going through all these different phases: It was me, then me-and-BI, then me-and-Z, then us three collectively together. So, that changes the situation entirely in terms of how I’m used. It was constant change,” McCollum said. “But to win in today’s NBA, you need those big, versatile forwards who can do a little bit of everything. We have two of the best the league has to offer. When they’re playing well, it makes the game easier for all of us.”

Last season offered little clarity. The constant injuries forced New Orleans to regularly adapt to new lineups and different styles of play. Williamson only played 29 games before a hamstring injury kept him out the last four months of the season. Ingram only played 45 games while dealing with a toe injury and other ailments. By the end of the 22-23 season, Zion, Ingram and McCollum had only played 10 games together.

Without his stars on the court, the pressure fell on McCollum to lift a struggling offense, not merely direct it. His numbers were relatively strong for the first few months of the season, but the nightly toll wore on him over time.

“I was more on-ball, running more isos. I’m dealing with more late-clock situations. When you don’t have that presence with Z in the middle, it can be tough to live that way all the time.,” McCollum said. “It takes a lot out of you.”

With everything he was being asked to do, McCollum’s body started to break down and his play on the court suffered as a result. He played the final few months of the 2022-23 season with a torn ligament in the shooting thumb on his right hand and the last seven games of the regular season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder – the latter of which was revealed by The Athletic after the season.

“My hand was cooked. With my shoulder, there were certain games I didn’t even want to shoot threes,” he joked. “I was sitting there hoping they’d close out so I could drive. It’s not an excuse. It’s a reality. When you decide to play, you’re judged on your performance.”

He knew both injuries would require surgery. His wife, Elise, urged him to have his thumb repaired because she could see how much it was affecting him on and off the court. But McCollum refused. He considers performing through pain and being there for teammates essential responsibilities. He was also aware the team, given the injuries to Williamson and Ingram, needed his presence to keep its season alive.

Amid that pain diminishing his game and Williamson’s extended post-January absence, McCollum’s goal of playing an on-ball point guard role resulted in a stagnant offense that depended too much on McCollum and Ingram playing in crowds and living on a steady diet of tough shots.

“We were playing a lot of iso basketball. It was us trying to get to the rim or trying to dance at the 3-point line. It’s tough to play that style and be consistent when the defense loads up to stop you,” Ingram told The Athletic. “We’re making the game easier for ourselves now, but it wasn’t as easy for us last year or the year before.”

It would have been a lot to ask of McCollum even at his best. When combined with his bad thumb and bad shoulder, McCollum dropped off considerably from the season before. The fanbase’s questions grew louder:

How can he be a true point guard if he shoots so much? How can they compete in the West if McCollum is the best guard on the team? Did they invest in the wrong guy to put next to Zion and Ingram?

McCollum heard it, too, whether directly in conversations with fans around the city or indirectly via social media. He knew needed a reset to figure out the best way to lead this young team, even if it meant changing up his style of play. With his team missing the playoffs for the first time in his career, he had even more time to embark on “the longest summer of my career.”

And more time, he learned, to get to the core of what was holding his team back.

Whenever there’s any opening for a Pelicans player to speak up about any subject, McCollum almost always voices his opinion first. He’s seen a lot in his 11 NBA seasons, and he’s always willing to share what he’s learned along the way with those around him.

He’s thoughtful and detailed with everything he says. His eyes often dart from one side to the other as his mind races through all of his thoughts. Once he gets a certain look on his face, his teammates already know what’s coming next.

They tease him for acting like a sage, never hesitating to share his wisdom. Some even jokingly throw up their hands and storm away before another classic CJ lecture gets underway.

“Larry (Nance Jr.) and CJ both act the same. It’s hilarious,” Williamson joked in December. “Let (them) tell it, (they’re both) 40-year-old savants.”

So when the Pelicans went through a 5-game losing streak in early November, it was no surprise McCollum pushed to have a team meeting that would allow everyone to air out their grievances.

There was just one problem: McCollum wasn’t with the team at the time.

He was in the midst of a 12-game absence as he recovered from a partially collapsed lung. After his initial diagnosis, he traveled to the East Coast to speak with different doctors about how he should deal with the injury. Meanwhile, his teammates were in New Orleans and in dire need of a reality check after falling to 4-6.

It was a moment that tested an essential part of team-building McCollum had stressed to his peers since coming to New Orleans: communication. Behind the scenes, McCollum has pushed Ingram and Williamson to be more mindful of when their voices are needed and how much their words affect everyone else on the roster. He’s also talked to them about the importance of leading through their actions and showing everyone the consistent work they do on a daily basis.

“I’m always telling them how important it is to maximize the talent around you because this s*** goes quick. You see that around the league. You don’t want to look back and think, ‘Damn, what could’ve been?’ McCollum said. “There’s a lot of stuff that the public doesn’t understand that’s done by pros that helps a team. Those are the moments when you really see the bigger picture. That’s when you understand how this moment can change a season.”

With McCollum a time zone away, those lessons broke through for Williamson and Ingram. Each spoke up during a team meeting that several players have characterized as a season-altering moment. Since that meeting on Nov. 13, the Pelicans have gone 22-12, while registering the NBA’s fourth-best offensive rating and fifth-best defensive rating.

During the meeting, Ingram, Williamson and several others spoke about the unacceptable lapses in effort that cost New Orleans early in the season. They implored each other to embrace what they felt was the team’s core identity: defense, sharing the ball and scoring in transition.

The meeting went about as well as McCollum could’ve imagined. In that moment, despite not being physically present, he knew his team was reaching a level of maturity that’s required to compete at the highest level.

“We’re not just getting in a room, saying some s*** and going on about our day,” McCollum said. “There’s accountability that’s being followed up in what we’re doing. Now, there’s a standard that’s being set.”

And when McCollum returned on Nov. 29, he began capitalizing on all the work he had done over the summer to tailor his game around what made Williamson and Ingram most comfortable.

After recovering from offseason surgeries to repair his thumb and shoulder, McCollum had a lot of time to reassess his game. It was the first time he had missed the playoffs in his career, and he admitted that the feeling of being at home and watching instead of playing was bizarre.

Once he was healthy enough to get back on the court, he worked with his trainers to increase his volume from the 3-point line. He worked on his lower body to be more consistent with his shooting motion. He went through two-a-days and eventually three-a-days to sustain his precision even when his body was worn down. He extended his range 2-3 feet beyond the arc to punish teams that gave him too much space. He did drills that encouraged him to make quicker decisions rather than going through a series of dribble moves to get open.

McCollum had already worked to increase his volume of 3-point looks in his last few years in Portland. He averaged 8.9 3-point attempts per game during the 2020–21 season. But the key adjustment he needed to make this summer wasn’t the number of threes he was taking, it was how he was getting them. How much work was he doing on the ball to get them off? How often was he allowing Ingram and Williamson to set him up rather than feeling like it needed to be the other way around?

To get to that point, he had to be more mindful about the shots he was taking. Sprinting in transition became a necessity rather than demanding the ball like most point guards. Catch-and-shoot jumpers became the most important shot in his arsenal. Pull-up 3-pointers became a priority over working to get into the 8-10 foot range. It was time for him to eliminate what he deemed “analytically inefficient shots.”

“I’ve drilled myself that if instead of taking deep twos, I need to get behind the line or get to paint,” McCollum said. “I don’t want to take too many shots in that 12-to-20 foot range. It’s a bad shot, analytically. Even though I can make them, I’ve already got BI taking tough twos. Instead of adding more tough twos, I might as well turn that into a three.”

Once training camp rolled around, he was mentally and physically sharper than ever during his time with the Pelicans.

“He really was in amazing shape when he arrived for the start of the season and I think it’s helped him a lot,” said Willie Green, the Pelicans’ coach. “He’s got his legs under him, he’s feeling good and he knows how to maintain where he needs to be. Him coming in as prepared as he was really set the tone for everybody else.”

The numbers show how McCollum has been a different kind of player than he was when he first came to New Orleans. With Ingram and Williamson finally healthy, the Pelicans have put the ball in their hands more often, allowing McCollum to find his shots more selectively.

In McCollum’s first season with the Pelicans, his usage was up at 29.4 percent. This season, it’s dipped down to 23.6 percent. Per Synergy, he went from running isolations on about 14.3 percent of his possessions in his first season with the team to 7.3 percent this season. Per Cleaning The Glass, he’s taking 36 percent of his shots in the midrange, which would be his lowest number since his second season as a pro. He’s also taking 49 percent of his shots from 3-point distance, which would also be the highest for him since his second season.

As a result, his efficiency has gone through the roof.

Among players with at least 240 attempts, McCollum and Milwaukee’s Malik Beasley are the only players in the league shooting 44 percent or better on 3-pointers. McCollum also ranks No. 1 in 3-point percentage on pull-up threes (47.4 percent), and he’s shooting 43.6 percent on catch-and-shoot threes.

He’s embraced the importance of being the primary floor spacer in a starting lineup that features Ingram, Williamson, Herb Jones and Jonas Valančiūnas while picking his spots to create shots himself when the game calls for it

“I think originally we approached it as, ‘Yeah, (CJ’s) the smallest player (in our starting lineup), so he’s the point guard,’” Nance told The Athletic. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. He can be, but he doesn’t have to be. We can run offense through BI, Z or a bunch of other people in the lineup. That was one of the biggest realizations for our team and for C.J. We don’t have a Tyrese Haliburton who sets the table for everybody. We have a lot of guys who are good at passing and seeing the court. We can run the offense through a few people and that makes us harder to defend.”

Those improvements in McCollum’s game and his influence on the rest of the roster off the court have helped turn the Pelicans into one of the more dangerous teams in the West. Since getting crushed by the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament, New Orleans has gone 14-7. During that stretch,12 of their 14 wins have come by double digits and they’ve bested the previous franchise record of 21 3-pointers on three occasions.

This has been another side effect of McCollum’s incredible shooting season. The Pelicans, who finished last season 23rd in 3-pointers made and 29th in 3-pointers attempted, are in the midst of perhaps the best shooting stretch in franchise history.

Since the In-Season Tournament loss to the Lakers, New Orleans is eighth in 3-pointers made per game (14.1) and second in 3-pointer percentage (42.1 percent). They made a franchise-record 25 3-pointers in a win over Charlotte last Wednesday and they followed that up two games later with 23 3-pointers and a franchise-record 153 points in a win over the Utah Jazz.

In the process, McCollum has proved his importance isn’t just measured by his direct impact on the game or even what he can do to spoonfeed his teammates. It’s also about helping Ingram and Williamson learn how to do the same, whether as on-court playmakers or off-court leaders.

“I think they’ve grown a lot. They’re learning what it takes to get themselves right physically and maintaining a routine, or adjusting it depending on how your body feels,” McCollum said. “They’re seeing how good we’ve been and how close we are to being great. That’s motivation to keep taking the right steps and sacrifice whatever’s required to get over that hump.

“I think they’re showing it with their work and their mentality, and it’s showing in our play as a team.”

His mindset is finally getting through to some of his younger teammates, and conversely, he’s figuring out the best ways to adapt to them and where they feel most comfortable. The result has been him proving he can adjust his game and reach a new level of greatness.

Except, it’s looked much different than expected.

(Top photo: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)