It will be 44 days before New Orleans Pelicans center Derik Queen faces the Atlanta Hawks again, but he already has extra motivation for the game.
The connection between Atlanta and New Orleans runs deep in professional sports. The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints are NFC South rivals, and while the Hawks and Pelicans don’t technically share a rivalry in the NBA, some of that same energy is transmitted when the two teams meet on the court.
The Falcons beat the Saints 24-10 on Sunday in New Orleans. On the Saints’ final drive, Falcons defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro sacked quarterback Tyler Shough with just under a minute to play.
The team celebrated the play by posting Orhorhoro’s celebration on Queen caught wind of the stunt on social media, reposting it on X with the time and date of the Pelicans’ next game against the Hawks.
January 7, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. https://t.co/ZiLqC0bW3t
– Queen Derik (@derikqueen1) November 24, 2025
The Pelicans acquired Queen after trading the No. 23 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Hawks for their No. 13 pick, which was used to select Queen. The former Maryland Terrapins center acknowledged as much when responding to X’s Grok AI’s explanation of the Falcons’ message.
The two teams will face off on Jan. 7 for the second time after the Hawks beat the Pelicans 115-98 on Saturday.
Queen had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals. It was his third straight game with 20 points, making him the first Pelicans player to do so since Zion Williamson during the 2019-20 season, according to ESPN Research.
Atlanta’s two teams’ victory in New Orleans sparked more trolling from each, but Queen might have the last laugh – the Pelicans-Hawks game in January is the last of the season.
