Saddiq Bey always believed in himself.
He just wasn’t so sure if everybody else still did.
Afterall, he hadn’t played in an NBA game since that devastating March day in 2024 when he was playing for the Atlanta Hawks. That’s the night his left knee buckled as he was driving towards the basket in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, tearing his ACL.
When that season ended, Bey signed a 3-year deal with the Washington Wizards. He spent all last season in D.C, but never touched the court for the Wizards as he continued to recover from his injury. He didn’t just rehab his knee. He rehabbed his mind and spirit too.
Saddiq Bey on Pelicans Media Day in Metairie on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Then July came, and Bey realized that someone still believed in him.
He was heading to New Orleans as part of the Jordan Poole - CJ McCollum trade.
“To be honest, it was just different emotions,” Bey said. “Just to still be wanted at that time. I looked it as half glass full. Just to be wanted at that time after not playing in a year and half meant a lot to me. New Orleans was showing that they still believed in me and that meant the world to me.”
At the time, Bey was just a footnote in the trade. But now, the Bey-McCollum trade seems like a better description of that trade. That’s how valuable Bey has been through the first 30 games of the season playing for the team he suffered that injury against 21 months earlier.
“He’s been incredible all year,” Pelicans’ interim coach James Borrego said last week after a win over the Houston Rockets.
Bey scored a season-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds that night as the Pelicans dug themselves out of a 25-point hole for easily their most impressive win of the season. Several members of the New Orleans Saints were in the Smoothie King Center that night. Alvin Kamara, who wears No.41 for the Saints, sat courtside. But the most dynamic No. 41 in the building that night was Bey.
“He’s built for these moments,” Borrego said. “He doesn’t shy away from it.”
Bey’s teammates weren’t surprised by that performance.
“He scored 50 in the NBA one time,” said Jose Alvarado. “Saddiq puts the work in. He’s a solid human being and I’m a big fan of his. It’s not shocking.”
Bey’s 51 point game came in the 2021-’22 season, his second year with the Detroit Pistons. The year before that, he finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting behind LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton. Not bad for a guy who - unlike Ball, Edwards and Halliburton- wasn’t a lottery pick. Bey was selected 19th overall by the Pistons in 2020. The Pistons’ general manager at the time was Troy Weaver. Now Weaver is in his first season in that same role with the Pelicans, serving as right hand man to executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars. Weaver believed in Bey five years ago. And he believes in him now.
“He is a major part of why I’m here,” Bey said about Weaver. “He drafted me and I kinda grew up with him my first 2 ½ years in the league. For him to still believe in me meant a lot. Obviously we had a great relationship. Him and Joe didn’t have to do that. I am just grateful for that.”
Truth be told, Bey is just glad to be hooping again. All that time rehabbing wasn’t always easy. But Bey is tough, which he showed the moment he tore his ACL. After going to the bench, he limped back onto the court to shoot his free throw. He missed it and then headed to the locker room. He wouldn’t play in another NBA game until the Pelicans’ season-opener this year in Memphis.
The reality of the injury didn’t hit Bey until the next day when he and his mom received the diagnosis that he indeed had torn his ACL.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Saddiq Bey (41) runs down the court during the first half of a basketball game against the Phoenix Suns at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
“I’m a real spiritual guy so I believe it was for a reason,” Bey said. “I didn’t understand the reason until my rehab. It really humbled me. I was really upset. I had to sit down and pray and just be better in every facet of my life. Just be better and more appreciative. I feel like I have always been like that, but this took me to a different stratosphere of gratefulness.”
Bey is making the most of the opportunity. The only game he’s missed this season was against the Oklahoma City Thunder when he was dealing with a left ankle sprain. He’s averaging 14.8 points and six rebounds heading into Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. His four double doubles tie him for the team lead with Trey Murphy. He’s played so well that it has allowed Borrego to bring Williamson off the bench, allowing the face of the franchise to be fresh at the end of games. Williamson has bought in and likes what he’s seen from Bey.
“I like the way he plays basketball,” Williamson said. “He is a big impact for this team. … We love to see him bully people. I think that’s what I like the most. But he has a versatile game.”
That versatility shouldn’t come as a surprise. Bey played college ball at Villanova, a school known for producing players who are reliable, tough and can do a little bit of everything. Bey joins a list of Villanova alums in the league like the New York Knicks trio of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges as well as Donte DiVincenzo of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was at Villanova where Bey said he learned about professionalism and paying attention to details.
“You can see the proof in the pudding from everyone who came out of the program,” Bey said.
Bey has started 23 games. It’s a role that nobody saw coming when the Pelicans traded for him. Most figured Bey would come off the bench and just be a role player.
“I always believe in myself,” Bey said. “I didn’t know what the product was going to look like. I was just hoping and praying that I was able to get back in enough of a rhythm to show everyone what I can do. But I still have ways to go.”
Thirty games into his time in New Orleans, he’s already won the fan base over. Some of the loudest cheers during pre-game introduction in the Smoothie King Center are for Bey. And fans on social media rave about him, too. Not that Bey notices that. He stays off social media during the season.
“But at the games or when I’m out in the community having an event, I can feel the love,” Bey said.
He appreciates that love. But more than that, he appreciates the chance to be playing the game that he loves so much. It’s why he plays with so much passion.
“I feel like I owe it to the front office, the city and this organization for believing in me,” Bey said. “Every single game, I’m literally thanking God for letting me finish that game. Win or lose. I’ll never take another game for granted.”