Zion Williamson, after a strong start, is already battling an injury

Zion Williamson is battling an injury. 

The New Orleans Pelicans have gotten off to a strong start this season. It all started with an impressive win over the Brooklyn Nets during the season opener. Through three games, the Pelicans are 2-1 and have the look of a team that could emerge as a dark horse threat in the Western Conference this season.

But the one thing that could derail it all, which is the case for most teams in the league, is injuries. And that’s something that this team has battled constantly, dating back to the days in which Anthony Davis was leading the franchise.

Though the team has gotten off to a promising start, it appears that they’re going to have to battle through the injury bug once again. Zion Williamson, who through three games is averaging 22 points and seven rebounds per game, has been diagnosed with a posterior hip contusion. He took a hard fall in the team’s loss to the Utah Jazz Sunday night and will be evaluated before the team takes the floor again.

The New Orleans Pelicans should play it safe with Zion Williamson

And considering that Zion has had injury issues throughout the first few seasons of his career, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Pelicans decided to play it safe with him over the next few games. Even more so if there is any discomfort that he is feeling after the hard fall.

The last thing that the Pelicans need is for this seemingly minor injury to evolve into a long-term issue that is going to plague Zion and the team for the remainder of the season.

It’s barely game 4 and there’s nothing that the Pelicans can win now. New Orleans has already shown this season that they have the talent to compete with other contenders. The next step is for this team to show some consistency.

And part of that is the ability to navigate through a season injury-free. That means making the right decisions when it comes to managing injuries such s the one that Zion has been diagnosed with.

It remains to be seen if Zion will actually miss any time with this most recent injury but it would be somewhat surprising if over the next few days, at the least, the team wasn’t playing it safe with this injury.