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.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
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)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
