Zion Williamson continues to dominate, showing glimpses of greatness
Zion Williamson is dominating and continues to show glimpses of greatness
Evidently, the knee injury Zion Williamson suffered at the initial start of his rookie season was frivolous.
Not prone to injury, but no one knew the severity of his knee condition before he made his debut. The only ones who had the slightest clue were the New Orleans Pelicans‘ training staff.
At this point, it’s old news.
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Williamson, who had a miraculous outing against the San Antonio Spurs in his NBA debut, continued his scoring streak Tuesday finishing the night with 31 points in 28 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers winning 138-117. That 31-point effort now places Zion in the conversation with Hall of Fame company.
According to ESPN’s Statistics and Information research provided by ESPN.com, Williamson is the third player in NBA history with seven 20-point outings in his first 10 career games. That’s from the last 30 seasons. He now joins Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal.
Williamson is also the first player since Ron Harper in 1986 to accomplish the feat in a 10-game span, according to ESPN.com.
It seems impractical for a rookie, especially Zion, to put up numbers of that caliber at 19 years old. Williamson told ESPN Tuesday night that he’s flabbergasted by his own statistical dominance in the last 10 games. New Orleans invested in star power; not mediocrity. Zion’s star power emanated from the blue streaks of Coach K’s legendary floor at Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium. Since then, Williamson hasn’t missed a beat.
What about Rookie of the Year candidacy? Is there a possibility that Zion could be in that conversation despite coming back from injury midseason?
It’s hard to discern. On the bright side, Zion’s future is congruent with the Pelicans’ offense. He’s only going to get better. He’s young. He’s only 19. And he hasn’t even gotten in real NBA shape; essentially professional shape. Standing a massive 6-foot-7, and weighing approximately 280 pounds, Williamson should consider cutting weight for endurance reasons.
This isn’t to obliterate the “Hall of Fame-like” numbers we’ve seen in the first 10 games. It’s not about lowering self-esteem. Ultimately, it’s about Zion’s body being sustainable enough to last an 82-game season.
That’s imperative for Williamson. For a young player who never experienced a vigorous NBA season; Zion should definitely take his health and nutrition into consideration. He already has a tremendous physique. But playing 82 games and eating Burger King doesn’t correspond well when you’re running and gunning at an NBA pace.
Impressive as he wants to be. As strong as he wants to be. If Williamson keeps this up, he’ll become an NBA nightmare.
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That nightmare is happening now. Expect more nightmares whenever someone defends Zion this season.
286 pounds? 40-inch plus vertical? With a decent 3-ball? There’s no way.