The New Orleans Pelicans have parted ways with one of their longest tenured employees, a source confirmed to The Times-Picayune on Monday.
David “Big Shot” Jovanovic, who has been the team’s equipment manager since the franchise arrived in New Orleans in 2002, was part of the latest round of moves made by executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
Jovanovic first started as an equipment manager with the Charlotte Hornets in their inaugural season in 1988 and then relocated with the team to New Orleans.
“I thought I would be in this job one or maybe three years,” Jovanovic said in a 2017 interview with The Times-Picayune. “Then, I woke up one day and realized it had been a long time. Then, I just heard the team was going to move (to New Orleans) and I wasn’t sure I was going to go, but our general manager said he wanted me to get on the plane and look at houses. And it suddenly kind of hit me that this is what I do. And this is my life.”
Jovanovic knows the franchise’s history better than anyone. He was with the team when it had to relocate to Oklahoma City in 2005.
“There’s been some really crazy stuff that has happened to this franchise,” said in that interview nine years ago. “Not only a move but Katrina and another move and ownership changes and everything. It’s just been really bizarre at times. But, this is what I know. I know these are my guys and I’m here to take care of them as best as I can.”
The decision is one of the latest moves by Dumars and his staff.
“Reorganization is underway,” one source told the Times-Picayune on Friday.
Another source familiar with the changes said some staff members from the basketball operations side were told last week that they were not being retained.
The goal with the changes is “to improve in these various areas and set things up for long-term success in the future,’ the source said.
Assistant coaches Casey Hill and Corey Brewer were among the ones let go last week.
The teams’ official website shows several other changes among the staff since Friday.
Jordan McGuire, who was a player development coach, is no longer listed on the team’s website.
The website listed 10 people as part of its athletic training staff on Friday. Now there are only four people listed. Tom Maystadt, the head athletic trainer, is still listed on the site, but will not be returning a source said.
Dumars was asked last week about the training staff and his assessment of the job they did this season.
“The main thing is you want to get players healthy and on the court and for the most part, we did,” Dumars said. ”I thought early on it was a little bit shaky. We had a lot of injuries and a lot of guys out. But I thought as the season went on, we got better. When you’re sitting there at practice and shootaround and staff are coming over and telling you what’s going on wit different guys and their availability, that’s how you judge this. You judge it obviously on the process too and how you try to get guys back on the court. But availability, as you know in today’s NBA, is more critical than ever before.”
