The New Orleans Pelicans season got off to such a strong start this year. In December, the Pels were actually at the top of the Western Conference.
Zion Williamson looked like a potential MVP candidate. He was literally bullying teams and was just straight up disrespectful with some of his dunks. New Orleans was riding high on all of this excitement.
But then Zion got hurt. He had a hamstring injury that kept him out for a few weeks. Then he re-aggravated it and it kept him out even longer.
Now, we’re here. The Pelicans have been booted back into the lottery with Williamson watching as the Thunder eliminated New Orleans from the NBA play-in tournament.
And it wouldn’t be the Pelicans if it didn’t come without some sort of controversy.
Before the game, video of Williamson dunking during warm-ups surfaced on social media.
Zion throws it down in warm-ups 👀
He is unavailable for the play-in tournament. pic.twitter.com/s9mitgYRVT
— ESPN (@espn) April 13, 2023
Now couple that with quotes from Williamson saying that he is, indeed, physically ready to return to play but not quite there mentally, per the Associated Press.
“I can pretty much do everything, but it’s just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring,” Williamson continued. “I don’t want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team when I can just be on the sideline supporting them more, because I know myself. If I was to go out there, I would be in my head. I would hesitate on certain moves and it could affect the game.”
That’s reasonable, right? Williamson has been on the sideline since January because of his hamstring issue. He’s working his way back into playing shape. So, naturally, in the Pelicans’ biggest game of the season, it stands within reason that Williamson wouldn’t want to return and mess things up.
But no. Fans, media and everyone else didn’t take it that way. Instead, they went in on him for somehow not being there for his team. Some even called for Williamson to be traded.
Fans railed against Zion
New Orleans loses the play-in game to end their season.
With their season on the line – if only they had an All-Star, who said today that he was "100 percent" and doing *this* in pre-game, maybe things could've been different.
The NBA is a mess, man🤦♂️🤦♂️pic.twitter.com/QjATSfmACA
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) April 13, 2023
Zion windmilling during pregame warmups and not playing in an elimination game was a perfect encapsulation of the last four years. I can’t get over it.
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) April 13, 2023
“I’m 100%, but..” https://t.co/Mmj2I9yAjW pic.twitter.com/J9u4XwMqAO
— Colby Marchio (@C_Marchio2) April 13, 2023
Kendrick Perkins even made the case that the Pelicans should trade him
On ESPN’s First Take, Kendrick Perkins made the case for trading Williamson because of his lack of availability throughout his career.
.@KendrickPerkins thinks the Pelicans should be looking to TRADE Zion 😳 pic.twitter.com/GUUj1XH0Qy
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 13, 2023
“If I’m in the front office of the New Orleans Pelicans, do I trust this guy to be my franchise player? Do I trust him that I can give him the keys to my car to drive it? The answer is no. If we were to ask a year and a hlaf ago how many teams would trade for Zion Williamson, it would’ve been 25 to 30. Now, it’s probably only about 5, meaning that his value is decreasing. So if I’m the Pelicans and I’m going into this offseason, I’m actually looking to trade Zion Williamson.”
That feels like a pretty drastic read of the situation, but alright, Perk. I guess.
Zion wasn't ready to play. Period.
Look, man. It’s a shame that Williamson wasn’t available to play in the Pelicans’ final game of the season when the team needed him most.
But he wasn’t ready. That much is clear — just look closely at the video ESPN tweeted out. Does that really look like Zion Williamson? The explosion just isn’t there. At all. He’s not going hard at all here.
He’s going at a very leisurely speed here…
It sucks that Zion has been out but the difficulty with soft tissue injuries is you can feel 90-95% and still be at a VERY elevated Re-injury risk. https://t.co/v4Iic7XZC0
— Jackson Lloyd (@JacksonLloydNBA) April 13, 2023
This video doesn’t show us a player ready to play. It shows us someone who is still working to get back.
It's fair to question the Pelicans' long-term outlook, but it's not fair to blame it all on Williamson
CJ McCollum said it himself after the Pelicans’ loss. Availability was New Orleans’ biggest problem this season. McCollum, Williamson and Brandon Ingram only appeared in 10 games together this season.
CJ McCollum on him, Zion and BI only playing 10 games together. "If you would have told me we were going to play 10 games together this season and win 42 games, I would’ve said “that’s crazy.”
(Continued)
— Rod Walker (@RodWalkerNola) April 13, 2023
The team’s best two players, Ingram and Williamson, have only played 241 minutes together total.
Wild that Willie Green has only been able to have Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram on the floor together for 12 games and 241 minutes since he took the Pelicans head coaching job
— Law Murray ❎️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 13, 2023
That’s a problem. And it isn’t just Williamson’s problem, either. Ingram played in 45 games. Williamson only played in 29. This team has to find a way to make sure its best two players are on the court together and healthy.
Yes, it’s fair to question why Williamson can’t stay healthy. It’s also fair to question whether the Pelicans’ training staff is up to the task of helping him maintain his health.
But what isn’t fair is claiming Williamson failed his team in the play-in tournament. That’s very obviously not what happened here.
