Zion Williamson is as good as advertised. The only issue is whether his body can handle the NBA grind–game after game, season after season.
To say that Zion Williamson’s NBA career got off to a bad start would be almost as big an understatement as saying that he’s ‘really talented.’ Of course, he’s really talented! In his one season playing college basketball, Williamson dominated the NCAA Division 1, picking up the ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and turning heads across the continent and beyond.
Courtesy: NBA.com
The New Orleans Pelicans used their coveted first pick in the NBA draft wisely by snapping him up, and fans couldn’t wait to see him hit the court. But it soon became apparent that it was going to take a while for Williamson to shine.
Why? Injuries hit. Williamson tore his meniscus (a strip of cartilage in the knee) during pre-season training and was out for three months, missing 44 games.
The Pelicans were unable to cope with his absence, sinking to the bottom of the Southwest Division. Current NBA betting tables place the Pelicans at only 60/1 to win the Western Conference. Yikes!
But what a return he has made! His first game back from injury was the kind that makes legends. Williamson netted 22 points during a short 18-minute stay on the court, including scoring a staggering 17 consecutive points during one three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter. Wow!
Now less than 15 games into his NBA career, it’s clear that his debut was no fluke. If anything, Williamson deserves more praise than he has garnered already. Against the Oklahoma City Thunder, for example, the defense seemed to evaporate whenever Williamson got the ball. When the final buzzer sounded, Williamson had racked up a cool 32 points.
And no one-game wonder is he. That performance represented Williamson’s sixth 20-point game in a row and took his overall average to over 22 ppg. With remarkable consistency, Williamson is reminding fans of what Michael Jordan used to do, including setting records for consecutive high-scoring games.
Williamson’s effect on the Pelicans is clear: the team has won six of ten with him on the court. That means the Pels are building up momentum for a late playoff push.
That said, a big question needs posing: Where is this going? At 6’6”, Williamson gets no advantage over his NBA rivals. What sets him apart is his weight–284 pounds–coupled with electric pace, effortless acceleration, and the unexpectedly graceful way he carries his frame on the court. That physique, and the way he uses it, give him explosive momentum to penetrate defenses and execute backboard-shattering dunks.
Courtesy: Sky Sports
But what he has and brings to the court invites injuries, including putting a strain on his joints which, at his young age of 19, are not fully developed. It’s no wonder then that his knee gave out back in October. And that wasn’t the first injury to his knees, either. Williamson missed the final six games at Duke due to a knee strain.
The Pelicans need Williamson to excel and–to be blunt–they may not be able to keep him for long. That could result in the Pels playing him as often as possible and as long as they can.
That possibility flies in the face of something essential–to manage Williamson’s play carefully so that he’s less likely to be injured during the formative stage of his career.
While Williamson has delivered so much already, the Pelicans must resist the urge to ask too much of him and too soon. Otherwise, we may never get to see this great player fully develop.
