This was exactly what New Orleans was fearing would happen ever since Zion’s return. It was only a matter of time before Zion Williamson’s unfortunately injury-prone body would give out from the labors of an NBA season as the former #1 overall pick is now out for 3 weeks with a hamstring injury, severely damaging the Pelicans chances for the 1st seed in the West.
This was always bound to happen sooner or later. Like I said, the unfortunate truth is that Zion WIlliams, despite his tremendous skill, speed, size, and strength, has an injury-prone makeup that will cause him to miss large chunks of an NBA season.
It’s happened every single season he’s been in the NBA and has even caused him to miss and entire year of basketball.
In fact, prior to this season, ever since he was drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans #1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, the forward has missed 146 games from injuries out a total of 246 available games. That’s nearly 60% games (59.3%) missed from injury rate!
Clearly, Williamson has been more accustomed to the trainer’s bench and the sideline in his brief career with him having missed more games than played, which is something that has cost the Pelicans a lot of opportunities for a championship.
In my humble opinion, if Zion had a slightly healthier/more resilient body (in the most respectful way), I believe the Pelicans would have already made it to the NBA Finals, let alone the Western Conference Finals, by now.
With a starting roster of C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas, Herbert Jones, and Zion Williamson and a bench that has scorers capable of hitting 8-12 PPG and anywhere from 33-40% from beyond the arc, this roster is easily one of the Top-3 best in the West.
And they have proven that this year with most of the starters healthy and performing as they currently are 3rd in the West and only 0.5 GB 1st place with a 24-14 record. Plus, Zion Williamson has looked the best we’ve seen since his dominating days at Duke with season averages of 26.0 PTS, 7.0 REB, 4.6 AST, 1.1 STL, and a 60.8% shooting percentage from the field.
The remarkable turnaround that Zion Wiliamson has been on this season has been nothing short of impressive as nearly everyone in the media world was writing him off as a bust coming into the year. From comments about his weight, eating habits, lack of game time, and even his dedication to the sport, the generational talent has been getting flack for just about everything he did during those first three years in the league.
Now, while some of it was deserved, most of it was coming from pure spit or arrogance from people who desperately wanted to be “proven right”. Personally, I’m just glad Zion showed the kind of destructive force he can be with his and the Pelicans rise to the top of the West this season, though this latest injury is a severe blow to that success.
Hamstring injuries and other soft tissue injuries are notoriously difficult to shake midseason, and Zion’s body has proven that even the smallest of knicks and issues can be debilitating. I hope Williamson can come back before the expected 3 weeks as New Orleans is due to face some of the best teams in the league, such as the Celtics, Nets, Mavericks, Nuggets, and Cavaliers.
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