Some NBA players load manage.

And others manage their load, no matter how heavy it is.

And if you don’t believe me, just wait until you hear about the Saturday that New Orleans Pelicans’ guard Jaron Pierre had.

Pierre played almost an hour of basketball. Fifty-nine minutes and six seconds to be exact.

He scored 36 points Saturday: 23 in Kenner and another 13 in New Orleans.

His team-high 23 points in almost 36 minutes of play Saturday morning led the Laketown Squadron to a 99-86  victory over the Mexico City Capitanes in the debut of the Pelicans’ G-League team in Kenner.

Then he made the 14-mile trip from Kenner to the Smoothie King Center in downtown New Orleans to suit up for the Pelicans.

In his second game of the day, he played 23 minutes and scored 13 points in the Pelicans’ 116-108 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

“It was beautiful,” Pierre said when describing his productive day.

A day like this wouldn’t have even been possible if the Pelicans’ G-League team didn’t relocate from Birmingham to Kenner this season.

According to Elias Sports, Pierre is just the second player to play more than 35 minutes in a G-League game and more than 20 minutes in an NBA game in the same day. The only other player to do that was Shake Milton, who like Pierre played college ball at SMU.

And that doesn’t even include Friday night when Pierre logged four minutes in the Pelicans’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies. So in a 24-hour span, he played in three games. The last time he did something like that was during his days playing AAU basketball in New Orleans with the Elfrid Payton Elite.

Not that Pierre minds.

For him, there’s no such thing as too much basketball.

“He has an energy and spirit about him that’s just pure,’ said Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley. “He just wants to play the game of basketball.”

Pierre, the St. Augustine High School grad drafted by the Pelicans in the second round in June, got his first NBA action this week on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday, he had a career-high in both minutes and points, bringing the juice to a Pelicans team that desperately needed it. Although the Pelicans didn’t win, they were much more competitive than they were in their previous four games when they lost by 16, 51, 34 and 31 points. This time they didn’t get blown out, thanks in part to some of the energy Pierre provided.

“Most of my stuff was on  the defensive end, bringing energy,” Pierre said. “ I’m just being myself.”

Against the Nuggets, he made 5 of his 11 field goals and drained a pair of 3-pointers to get the crowd going. He also had a steal and blocked a shot on a night when he showed off his defensive versatility by guarding Denver’s Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. It’s that type of play that will likely force Mosley to divvy more minutes to Pierre.

“He’s poised and he’s got a maturity about him in what he wants to do,” Mosley said. “And he’s not afraid. That’s the thing that I love the most about him. He’s not afraid of moments. Not afraid to take big shots. Not afraid to guard anyone. That’s what I’m looking for the most. Being able to sit down and guard multiple positions and not backing down and shying away from it all.”

Mosley challenged Pierre before Saturday's game. Pierre was in the locker room when Mosley told him to stop all the laughing, get dressed and go watch clips of Denver guard Murray.

“From that point on, what y’all saw out there was from that talk,” Pierre said.

There is another Squadron/Pelicans double header on Monday. The Squadron host the Oklahoma City Blue at 11 a.m. in Kenner, while the Pelicans entertain the Golden State Warriors at 7.   Mosley says he won’t hesitate to let Pierre double dip again.

“If the guys are ready to go, we go,” Mosley said.

And you best believe Pierre will be ready. He’s not satisfied with just being on the roster of the NBA team in the city he was born and raised. He wants to contribute.

“If I can do anything, no matter what it is, I’m going to go do it,” Pierre said. “I know my leash is going to get longer at some points, so I’ve just got to stay patient.”

But first things first. His plans for Saturday night after logging 59 minutes of hoops?

“Good sleep,” he said. “A lot of hydration.”

Well deserved.