It’s been delayed by three months, but on Wednesday night, 2019 No. 1-overall pick Zion Williamson will make his NBA regular-season debut at long last.
This is a big deal on the NBA calendar as Williamson is, perhaps, the most hyped NBA prospect we’ve seen since LeBron James with potential to become a new face of the league.
Here’s a quick look at why the NBA world is so excited to finally see Williamson play and what we can expect from him.
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He was a bonafide high-school phenom and NCAA superstar
Before anything else, take a look at this mixtape of Williamson from his senior year in high school:
Now are you beginning to understand the hype?
Williamson’s otherworldly athleticism has been the stuff scouts drool over for years now and when he committed to play for Duke in college last season, he, essentially, affirmed everything everyone who had been covering high school basketball in Williamson’s time was talking about.
At Duke, he was a legitimate superstar, winning the consensus National College Player of the Year for averages of 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting an incredible 68.0 per cent from the field.
The athleticism obviously translated to the college level, but more than that, Williamson also managed to show he was more than just a dunker, flashing an advanced handle, strong court vision, good shot mechanics and excellent defensive potential – and not just as a weak-side shot-blocker and ball hawk in passing lanes – that made him an easy No. 1-overall pick in the 2019 draft for the New Orleans Pelicans.
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We didn’t really get to see him in Summer League and he teased us briefly in pre-season
After Williamson got picked first overall the hype to see him in action again was palpable, with many looking forward to NBA Summer League to get their first glimpses of him in a pseudo-NBA uniform.
Unfortunately, a bruised left knee Williamson suffered in his first Summer League game knocked him out of that contest early and left him out for the rest of the event.
This injury kept Williamson sidelined until pre-season where he looked fantastic, averaging 23.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game on 71.4 per-cent shooting, showcasing all the aerial acrobatics and explosive feats of athleticism we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him after his year at Duke.
There would, once again, be a setback, however as just before New Orleans’ pre-season finale, it was reported that Williamson would miss that game with right-knee soreness, followed by an official announcement from the Pelicans after the game stating Williamson would also sit the season opener and be sidelined between the next six-to-eight weeks.
His official NBA debut would have to wait.
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Injury concerns
As it turned out, six-to-eight-weeks wasn’t the right diagnosis as the Pelicans were ultra-cautious with Williamson, extending his rehab period by a month.
Given the fact he had suffered injuries on both knees within the last six months, it makes a lot of sense that New Orleans was as careful as it has been with him.
Knee injuries are always scary for basketball players, but maybe doubly so for someone like Williamson, who is incredibly unique — listed at six-foot-six and 284 pounds with a special kind of athleticism and leaping ability that seems nonsensical with the mass he carries.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday ahead of his debut, Williamson said he learned more about how to properly manage himself out on the floor during what he called to be a “long and strenuous” rehab stint.
“I did learn a lot about my body in this time period,” Williamson said. “That came a lot from watching film and where to use my energy and try to make smarter reads and not exhaust so much energy.”
Film has been a big part of the team’s plan to help Williamson understand how to better take care of his body, especially when it comes to landing from his powerful, majestic slam dunks.
“I think it’s just not landing with straight legs and letting all of my force go into my legs,” he said. “It’s a lot of technical stuff.”
The Pelicans and Williamson believe they’re ready now, and what had been a maddening rehab period for Williamson now appears to be over.
“There were a lot of times where I just wanted to punch a wall or kick chairs because it’s frustrating to not be able to move your body the way you want to, not to be able to make any athletic movements,” said Williamson. “It’s tough, especially because I’m 19 and I haven’t even played my first NBA game. So it was tough, but I battled through it.”
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Playoff hunt
Though it took a long time, from a competitive standpoint, Williamson probably couldn’t be making his debut at a better time for the Pelicans.
Thanks to a recent turnaround that’s seen New Orleans go 11-5 since Dec. 18, the Pelicans find themselves right in the thick of the hunt for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Currently sitting 3.5 games back of No. 8 Memphis, the goal is within sight, but it won’t be easy as they’ll need to leapfrog four other teams, including the Grizzlies, to slide into the final post-season spot.
A player of transcendent-looking talent like Williamson, however, could be the missing ingredient to help New Orleans over the hump, especially on the defensive end, the Pelicans’ biggest weakness as the fifth-worst-rated defensive team in the entire league.
Similar to what Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ja Morant is doing with Memphis, Williamson could be that shot in the arm New Orleans needs and – who knows? – if he’s able to position the Pelicans ahead of the Grizzlies it might not be quite the foregone conclusion that Morant is named the league’s top rookie this season.
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