The New Orleans Pelicans are rolling with the punches and climbing the standings over the last month. They have good reason to confidently chirp at the opponents most nights as Willie Green's group usually has a lead. The locker room even took a vote to determine the team's biggest, loudest trash-talker on the team. Unsurprisingly, Jose Alvarado took home the honor with Naji Marshall coming in a close second.

Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and Trey Murphy III declined to make their ballots public. A lone vote from EJ Liddell gave Herb Jones a claim to third place, via the Pelicans website.

“Herb, easily,” Liddell laughed. “No matter what I do, he’s just trash-talking me specifically. I don’t know if he has something against me, but he’s been trash-talking me a lot lately. I thought we were cool, but I might have to start returning the favor.”

Marshall is adjusting to a slight reduction in minutes but he knew a podium finish was in the bag as soon as the question was posed to the team. No one is off limits for the two fan favorites known as The Knife and Mr. GTA.

“Probably me or Jose,” the Xavier alum stated. “To our own teammates, it’s also me or Jose.”

Herb Jones agreed with Marshall that Alvarado trash-talks everyone, even teammates. Dyson Daniels wrote in “definitely Naji” while rookie Jordan Hawkins went with a less assertive, “probably Jose” for an answer. The big men were split. Cody Zeller went with an “always talking, whether it is trash talk or conversational” Alvarado vote. Jonas Valanciunas gave Marshall the nod of approval.

Jose Alvarado, Naji Marshall's 2023-24 seasons with Pelicans

Alvarado and Marshall are making the best of their time with the Pelicans, despite Green making tough decisions with the reserve minutes. Alvarado is averaging 7.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per contest but has only played 13 minutes total over the last four games. Marshall is good for 7.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.

According to NBA.com, both are shooting 39% from beyond the three-point arc, so Green has some change-of-pace options off the bench that can make teams pay for cheating toward Williamson, Ingram, or McCollum. Alvarado is locked up for another season. Marshall may walk for nothing this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Both players have won over hearts and minds in part by always being heard, even if it was just encouragement from the bench. That's the attitude and spirit citizens of the Crescent City can rally around. It'll be interesting to see where Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall wind up finishing the season, and with what role, but they can rest assured to never hear any trash-talk from the Smoothie King Center's most loyal fans.