The New Orleans Pelicans just can’t catch a break, can they? With Jose Alvarado suffering a scary injury at AmeriCup, the team’s backcourt depth faces another challenge. After a major offseason overhaul and a history of injury woes, will the Pelicans finally get healthy for the 2025-26 season?

The New Orleans Pelicans, despite a significant offseason overhaul aimed at bolstering their roster, find themselves grappling with a familiar and deeply concerning issue: injuries. The latest blow comes from standout guard Jose Alvarado, who suffered a scary injury while representing Puerto Rico in an AmeriCup game, casting a new shadow over the team’s preparations for the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season.

This recent incident adds another layer of anxiety for a franchise that has consistently battled with player health. The Pelicans had already made major strategic moves, acquiring talents like Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey from the Washington Wizards, and bringing in veteran presence Kevon Looney. Alongside promising rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, these additions were designed to solidify a formidable core around their prodigious forward, Zion Williamson, aiming for a competitive future.

However, the past season painted a grim picture of their injury struggles. The 2024-25 campaign saw the New Orleans Pelicans finish with a disappointing 21-61 record, a stark underperformance for a team widely recognized for its talent. This considerable shortfall in expectations was almost entirely attributable to an unprecedented string of injuries that decimated their roster throughout the year.

Statistical evidence of their injury misfortune is stark. Last season, the Pelicans boasted an impressive eleven players who averaged ten or more points per game, a testament to their depth. Yet, remarkably, not a single one of these key contributors managed to play sixty or more games, highlighting the widespread nature of their health crisis.

Key figures like Zion Williamson were limited to a mere thirty games, severely impacting the team’s cohesion and offensive flow. Brandon Ingram played only eighteen, Dejounte Murray thirty-one, and Herb Jones twenty, all crucial players whose prolonged absences created insurmountable challenges for the team’s coaching staff and overall performance.

The Pelicans have unfortunately established a reputation as one of the unluckiest teams in the league when it comes to player availability. With the 2025-26 season on the horizon, the overriding hope within the organization and among its fanbase was a complete turnaround in their injury fortunes, allowing their talented roster to finally compete at its full potential.

The recent Jose Alvarado injury, occurring during his national team duties, strikes at a particularly vulnerable time. While the full extent and severity of Alvarado’s injury remain unknown, the visual of him being stretchered off the court against Argentina is a chilling reminder of the fragility of player health and the immediate concerns facing the Pelicans’ backcourt depth, especially with Dejounte Murray still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Alvarado’s contributions are significant; in his 56 appearances and 23 starts last season, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He is an integral part of the Pelicans’ system moving forward, and any extended absence would be a substantial blow to their aspirations. The collective hope among Pelicans fans is that this latest scare proves to be minor, allowing him a swift return to the court.