New Orleans Pelicans: Takeaways from Zion Williamson’s debut

Zion’s athleticism transitions

The narrative before, and even early on during the Spurs/Pelicans contest, was the long-told “Zion is fat” story. Some were questioning whether or not he was in shape; some went as far as to suggest he looked in even worse shape than ever before his injury.

That narrative has at least been set aside for the time being. A concern that has followed Zion, regarding his athleticism, from high school to college and from college to the pros has been “will it transition?” The answer has consistently been “yes,” and it was “yes” last night.

Zion is a defensive lineman who found a basketball instead of the football field. His 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame is truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen before; he might be the only person in the world at his size who can move exactly the way he does.

His ability to rise above the rim has been well documented; his ridiculous burst and light feet is something that deserves more attention. That was on display at the 7:31 mark in the 4th quarter.

Zion took an entry pass from Lonzo Ball above the restricted area matched up with Jakob Poeltl. A quick little shimmy was enough for him to find a look at the rim, but Poeltl’s length allowed him to sneak in for the block. Zion’s forward momentum after the attempt seemed to have taken him out of the play, but within the blink of an eye, he was already right back under the basket in front of Poeltl. He sneaked the offensive rebound, and quickly scored his own second chance bucket.

The way his body bounces off of others looks like it defies physics at times. Whether if he is touting his way to the basket or rising up for a rebound, the way his body remains in immovable control makes you wonder if he was crafted in an Area 51 laboratory.

To elaborate on just how transitional his athleticism actually is, just look at Zion’s rebounding numbers from last night. Per 36 minutes, Zion had 14 rebounds. Even while being matched up against the true 7-footer in Poeltl, Zion grabbed 13.3 percent of his team’s missed shots (86th percentile) and 33.3 percent of the Spurs’ missed shots (92nd percentile) per Cleaning the Glass.

Despite coming fresh off knee surgery, and a majority of his work surprisingly happening from behind the arc, Zion’s athleticism was still felt to a significant degree. Anything left of the “will it transition?” debate was settled last night; Zion’s athletic ability will be a major hassle on each end of the floor as both the season and his career progress.