I was in New Orleans just this past week. It is a terrible, terrible feeling to see all the homes that, to me, look destroyed. It's not just the arena. If the arena is in playing condition, will there be fans there? I don't know how many people will come back and how quickly they'll come back. |
I'd rather have a full house at a medium price than half-full at a high price. |
I'm not going to be crazy about it but our goal is to get better. |
I've got a fine line and I've got to be very careful because if these people have no hope, they don't want to support it. If the people in New Orleans have no hope, then they're not going to come. So it's a situation that I've got a very delicate balancing act here to try to make it work. |
I've got all the confidence in the world New Orleans is going to be back. The question all of us have is when. |
I've got to be very careful. I've got to keep my options open, and I don't want to make (NBA commissioner) David (Stern) mad. I've got a lot of things I've got to do. Our goal and plan is to go back. |
I've told him that I want him back. I think he's a great coach, and he's good with the guys. So I told him if he wants to talk, he can talk to me. But I'm not going to talk to an agent. If he has an agent involved, he has to talk to (General Manager) Jeff Bower, not me. |
If everything was back now, we wouldn't be going through this thing. It's unfortunate, but this is a tragedy we're trying to deal with. We've got to do what a lot of other people have done with their lives and businesses. And that's go somewhere else. It's temporary. But we don't have a choice. |
If I don't generate money, I'm I trouble. These people have stepped up to try to keep us whole. I couldn't ask for anything else. I was seeing myself going to the bank borrowing lots of money. I don't see that happening now. It's bittersweet. We've got a place to land and a lot of support, which is positive. But you know, I don't know how the hell to explain it. It's not home. We've got to come back home to help with all the suffering there . . . . it's just hard to describe. |
If we sell out that game, that's a loud message. |
If we sell out that game. That's a loud message. We're just trying to find out if these people are serious or not. |
If you do that, the community feels like you're part of their community and they want to support you. |
It was electric. It was absolutely electric. It was as good I've seen it. |
It's a sellout, which sends a signal around the country that New Or-leans is coming back. |
It's a sellout, which sends a signal around the country that New Orleans is coming back. |