The New Orleans Pelicans are real. Really real. This team is legitimately an NBA title contender.
The Pelicans proved it with their outright domination of the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, making them the unquestioned No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The team put the rest of the NBA on notice. It is not to be toyed with. Zion Williamson made sure the Phoenix Suns knew that, too.
He punctuated the Pelicans’ win with a thunderous dunk worthy of ever 50 score the NBA’s dunk contest has ever seen. It rattled the entire arena, mostly in a good way for the home crowd. We can’t say the same for Chris Paul and the Suns, though.
It didn’t go over too well with the team. The dunk nearly started a scuffle between the two squads.
Suns vs. Pelicans after Zion’s late game dunk. 👀
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 10, 2022
Queue up the unwritten rule talk. The Suns were mad. Super mad.
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Wait, why were the Suns so mad?
Basically, the game was over when Williamson did his 360 tomahawk dunk and the Suns felt like it was disrespectful.
Cam Payne explained it here.
"Game was pretty much over and they kept playing. Feel like that was a little unsportsmanship. We don't really like that. We do the right thing and I feel like they should've did the right thing and they didn't. We don't take it well." Cameron Payne on #Suns–#Pelicans ending.
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 10, 2022
Dang. So why did Zion do it?
His explanation has got to be the coldest reasoning ever. But when he broke it down, it was actually perfectly reasonable.
He knows his team has to dominate the Suns after Phoenix eliminated the Pelicans from the playoffs last year. This was Williamson asserting his dominance.
"That was a little out of character for me. But you gotta understand … They sent my teammates home last year.”
Zion speaks on his late 360 windmill dunk during the Pelicans-Suns game. He kept receipts ✍️ pic.twitter.com/OmLHkDBnTt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 10, 2022
“That was a little out of character for me. But, you’ve got to understand, they sent my teammates home last year. I missed all last year. I got carried away a little bit — I admit that. But I was in my locker room with my brothers who were down because the Suns sent us home last year. That’s a tough moment to be a part of. So in that moment, I got carried away. It was out of character for me. If they was to do the same thing, I’d have no problem with it.”
Translation: Yeah, I did it. It wasn’t exactly right. But it was necessary. And who is going to stop me? That’s what I thought.
Whew boy. Fans loved this.
Yeah, never apologize for a 360 windmill dunk. Ever. https://t.co/5zfR377SrI
— BaxleyRJR (@BaxleyRJR) December 10, 2022
Mood: https://t.co/mQk5pkbZI8 pic.twitter.com/dqF5VnNwha
— Isaiah Wilhite (@isaiah_wilhite) December 10, 2022
Hello @Zionwilliamson please continue to do awesome dunks at the end of games
That’s the best dunk the NBA has seen since Aaron Gordon was in the dunk contest! Keep dunking and I hope you see the Suns in the playoffs! #Respect https://t.co/ZTUqTtkHdg
— NBA Slime (@TerryFranconia) December 10, 2022
— Benjamin. (@Tizdale8) December 10, 2022
That dunk + this comment will have Louisiana riding for Zion for a long time. The state can always rally behind protecting its own. https://t.co/MZKMZkedjN
— Seth Lewis (@SethLewisInc) December 10, 2022
How can you not love this? #Zion https://t.co/dCouT5Vaid
— Jerit Roser (@JeritRoser) December 10, 2022
CJ McCollum brought solutions to the table
I’ll leave you with this. CJ McCollum had some sage advice for the Suns next time something like this is about to happen.
"They gotta get back on defense if they don't want us to dunk the ball… Get back on defense"
– CJ on Cam Payne's comments about Zion's dunk being "Unsportsmanlike" pic.twitter.com/At6l0wAXvX
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) December 10, 2022
And that’s that on that.
