Yahoo Finance All three Holiday brothers make history, play in same game for first time in New Orleans
For the first time in their respective, lengthy basketball careers, all three Holiday brothers finally found themselves on the same court at the same time.
Jrue Holiday and the New Orleans Pelicans beat Justin and Aaron Holiday and the Indiana Pacers 120-98 at the Smoothie King Center on Saturday night. Due to the age difference between the brothers — Justin is 30, while Aaron is 23 — the three have never played in the same game before, even as children.
The brothers made NBA history in the first quarter, too, becoming the first family trio to ever play in the same game.
The Holiday bros exchange jerseys after they became the first three brothers to share the same court in an NBA game! pic.twitter.com/Ac0Whm9YGH
— NBA (@NBA) December 29, 2019
The three brothers, who went to the same high school in the Los Angeles area, all found their way to the league through Pac-12 programs — with Aaron and Jrue going to UCLA and Justin to Washington.
Jrue is now in his 11th season in the league, his seventh with the Pelicans, and is averaging 19.7 points and 6.5 assists per game. Justin has bounced around more, having played for seven different teams over seven seasons. Aaron is in just his second season in the league, and averaging 10.5 points and 2.5 rebounds mainly off the bench in Indiana — and was actually the main reason Justin decided to sign with the Pacers this offseason.
“We all know how long my free agency took, and the Pacers obviously being a contender every year and going to the playoffs, and then also them having my brother was something that was very, very enticing for me,” Justin said after signing. “To be able to be a part of that culture and play with my brother, I think it made it pretty simple where I needed to go.”
Though he’s only coached two of the brothers — Justin while an assistant at Golden State and Jrue in New Orleans — Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry had nothing but good things to say about the family.
“If you meet the mom and the dad, it really isn’t a surprise that their sons are where they are right now,” Gentry said. “I think they’ve done an outstanding job … It’s not so much the athletic things, it’s the kind of kids that they are, the kind of [people] that they are. They’ve done a great job in that department, and they have also created three really great athletes.”
The Pelicans, after falling into a 13-point hole after the first quarter, bust the game open after halftime and grabbed a 25 point lead — their largest of the season. From there, New Orleans simply cruised to the 22-point win — its fourth in five games.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 24 points and seven assists. Jrue finished with 20 points, shooting 9-of-16 from the field, and Derrick Favors had a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Aaron led the Pacers with 25 points while shooting 4-of-6 from the 3-point line. T.J. Warren finished with 20 points, and Domantas Sabonis had a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Justin finished with one rebound in 27 minutes, shooting 0-of-4 from the field.
Regardless of how the game ended up, though the three brothers were just happy to be back together again.
“All in one game, that’s cool,” Jrue said, via The Athletic. “That’s really cool.
“Hopefully, the next thing is we play on the same team — all three of us.”
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