Pelicans Notes: Davis, Benson, Gentry, Jackson

Pelicans owner Tom Benson passed away earlier this week at 90 years old. Benson, who struggled for almost a month with flu-like symptoms, has been posthumously honored by many in the sports world and earned praise for his efforts to keep professional football and basketball in the city of New Orleans.

Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis was among those to speak highly of Benson. Davis sent out a tweet thanking Benson for all his contributions, both to him personally and the city of New Orleans, William Guillory of NOLA.com relays.

“Mr. Benson has meant so much to this city & to my career in NOLA,” Davis said in the tweet. “Mr. B & his wife Gayle treated me like family since I arrived & I’m forever indebted to them for their kindness & generosity.”

Check out more notes from the Pelicans below:

• Following Tom Benson’s death, it was reported that his wife, Gayle Benson, would take over as the owner of the Pelicans. In a statement released to NBA.com, Benson promised to do her best to ensure future success for both the Saints and Pelicans. “I would like to assure you that we planned carefully for this day and, while my husband could never be replaced, I am blessed to be surrounded by a wonderful leadership team and staff and we will move forward successfully together,” Gayle said in the statement. “We cannot thank you enough for all of the joy you gave my husband and will continue to do everything within our power to make you proud of our teams and city.”
• Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry has been fined $15K for critical comments of the officials in the team’s loss to the Rockets on Saturday, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
• As we relayed yesterday, the Pelicans have given up on rookie Frank Jackson playing this season. Jackson suffered a foot fracture in August and despite a modest three to four-month recovery projection, Jackson did recover as hoped. The team has denied that any setbacks occurred.