By JIM EICHENHOFER, NBA.com
Joe Dumars took the stage at his first press conference in New Orleans in late April. He grabbed both sides of the podium; took a breath; paused. “Happy to be home,” he said, smiling. “It’s been a whirlwind journey for me.”
A whirlwind is an understatement. Dumars’ story is more of a basketball odyssey — from backyard hoops in his hometown of Natchitoches, La., to Bad Boy Pistons, winning back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, landing in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and ultimately, returning home.
This spring, Dumars was hired by New Orleans to lead its basketball operations department and guide the Pelicans back to and beyond their recent level of winning (playoff appearances in 2022 and 2024, a 49-win regular season in 2023-24), after a painful 2024-25 that featured a devastating series of injuries and the franchise’s worst regular season record in two decades.
The roster Dumars inherits has talent — including two-time All-Star forward Zion Williamson, first-team All-NBA Defense selection Herb Jones, and rising standout forward Trey Murphy— and Dumars has added a few key pieces in veterans Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney and Saddiq Bey, along with rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.
But the roster is only one ingredient in a recipe for success. “Right time, right place, right people,” Dumars has repeatedly echoed in the offseason. For him, New Orleans is exactly the right place — and the right fan base. “When you’re from here, you understand what it means to be a fan,” he said at his first press conference in New Orleans (and in case you were wondering, yes, he is a lifelong Saints fan).
“Sometimes opportunities come along and you just know,” he added with a nod. “That’s what has happened here with the Pelicans. And I want to thank Mrs. (Gayle) Benson (governor of the New Orleans Pelicans) for this opportunity to come home.”
An old door and a bicycle wheel
In the early 1970s, you could find a young Joe Dumars dribbling a basketball on a patch of grass and red clay in Natchitoches — a small college town in north-central Louisiana. The improvised court may not have had any bells and whistles — his hoop was made from a bicycle wheel and an old unhinged door — but it stood directly across the street from a family friend’s store, where bright outdoor lights illuminated the neighborhood, allowing young Dumars to practice even after the sun went down.
Off the makeshift court, Dumars lived in a one-story house with his parents — Joe II and Ophelia Dumars — and six siblings. His father — a salt-of-the-earth World War II veteran — worked long shifts as a truck driver, while Ophelia worked as custodian at nearby Northwestern State University.
“They were old school — all about (hard) work (and) doing things right,” said Chris Maggio, a lifelong friend and now-retired former NSU president, whose father owned and operated the neighborhood store. “The mom demanded respect. They were ‘yes ma’am, no sir’ people who did things the right way.”
“They were the example,” said Dumars, recalling his parents from his office inside the Pelicans’ practice facility this summer. “They insisted (we) always carry (ourselves) with some dignity, with humility. The treatment of others was emphasized. That was a big theme in our house.”
Joe II and Ophelia expected good grades and steady attendance from the Dumars boys — and they delivered — but the brothers all truly excelled in athletics. None more so than Dumars, who could do just about anything he put his mind to. “He was a heck of a football player in middle school,” said Maggio. “Tennis. He could swim… He was a great athlete.”
But while his brothers took to football, Dumars ultimately turned his attention to basketball, “the one sport you can truly practice by yourself,” he said. Once his older brothers moved out (four went on to play college football), he spent hours in his yard shooting baskets. “And to be quite frank, I also wanted to carve my own path. I always heard about my brothers, how good they were (at football). I thought, ‘I’m the youngest, I’m going to make my own name.’”
A home court advantage
As a teenager, Dumars played on a New Orleans-based AAU team featuring multiple future NBA players, including Karl Malone (native of Summerfield, La.) and John “Hot Rod” Williams (Sorrento, La.).
In 2025, a star-studded scholastic group like that would likely end up restricting college options to historic national powers like Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky – but Dumars, Malone and Williams all remained in-state. Dumars chose McNeese State in Lake Charles, while fellow future Hall of Famer Malone went to Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Williams opted for Tulane in New Orleans. “We all knew we were going to pick a place where we could step on the court and make an immediate impact,” said Dumars.
He used all of his eligibility at McNeese, playing four seasons and taking a patient approach to preparing for a pro career. “Staying four years, you can see that you got better and better every year,” he said. “You can see your growth. As opposed to playing one year, then having to project how good you could be. For me, not for everyone, that was huge. I could see it and feel it — from 18 to 22 years old — it was night and day how much better I got over those four years.”
By the end of his sophomore year at McNeese, Dumars suspected he had an NBA future, but he never looked too far ahead. Instead, he carried himself the way his father taught him to: work hard, stay humble, “I just wanted to be the best player on my team. The best player in the Southland Conference. I wasn’t even thinking about the NBA.”
“He seemed older, more mature,” said longtime friend and McNeese supporter Billy Rose. “No shenanigans. He carries himself just the way his dad did. No BS.”
Any journalist visiting Lake Charles looking for negative background stories about Dumars would be guaranteed to leave disappointed, Rose joked. “An investigative reporter would have to say, ‘Went there. Found nothing.’ He’s dull. But that’s what you want from your team’s superstar. No baggage.”
Going heads-down on hard work, patience and integrity ultimately paid off. Dumars was selected 18th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1985 NBA draft. He was named to the All-Rookie first team that year, and just four years later, won his first of two NBA championships (the first of which he was named Finals MVP) as part of the Bad Boys Pistons squad.
Despite the team’s aggressive reputation on the court, Dumars remained quiet, respectful and level-headed, as always. In the 1995-96 season, seven years after his father’s death, he received the first-ever NBA Sportsmanship Award — now called the Joe Dumars Trophy — perhaps the accomplishment that would have made his father proudest.
“My dad never (told people) I had an NBA career,” said Dumars. “He said that I have a ‘really good job.’ He never got caught up in the hype or any of that. It was like, ‘Son, you have a really good job there. A well-paying job.’
“Treat people the right way, be respectful, (and) be humble. I take all of that with me. Everything he taught, I live that every day.”
At one point during Dumars’ lucrative Detroit playing career, he wanted to buy Ophelia a new house, to upgrade from the one-floor structure he grew up in. But — comfortable in their family home and neighborhood — Ophelia declined. Instead, her son simply added on to the property. Ophelia died in 2020, but the modest Natchitoches home is still owned by the Dumars family to this day.
All roads lead home
After working for the NBA’s league office in New York City in recent years as executive vice president and head of basketball operations, Dumars said during his April introductory press conference that there weren’t many opportunities that could cause him to leave that position. Leading basketball operations for his home state’s NBA franchise was an obvious exception.
He’s now tasked with bringing to New Orleans the same kind of success he produced as a player, as well as early in his tenure as Detroit’s top basketball executive (2004 NBA champions; 2005 Finals trip with Game 7 loss at San Antonio; six straight conference finals appearances from 2003-08).
“He’s going to lead the Pelicans with integrity,” said Maggio. “The players are going to respect him, and he’s going to respect the players, the coaches, the ownership, the community. He hasn’t changed at all since we were young.”
For Dumars, like most things, his new role starts with lessons learned at home. “When it’s at its best, the product on the (court) reflects the city,” he said in April. “New Orleans is resilient. They don’t fold here. They don’t just give up. You want the team to reflect that.
“This is an incredible fan base. I’m super happy to be here and super happy to be home.”
