Zion Williamson: the Debut of a Future Superstar
By: Wayne
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am one of the heaviest sleepers in the world. Nothing can really wake me up in the morning - I normally have to set upwards of 7 alarms - let alone in the middle of the night. But early this morning, at around 5:00 AM Barcelona time, I found myself tossing and turning in bed and unable to fall back asleep. Suddenly, it hit me - Zion Williamson was making his professional debut on ESPN. I checked his stats - 5 points and 4 rebounds with 4 turnovers. Ouch. Still, I wanted to see if he could turn it around down the stretch. After some finagling of VPNs and streaming services, I was able to turn on the Spurs and Pelicans game.
Seemingly instantly after I turned on the game, Zion hit another gear. With San Antonio shading off of him to protect the rim and daring him to shoot, Williamson drained 4 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. For reference, in no game at Duke did he make more than 3 shots from long-range. Zion put up 17 straight points early in the 4th quarter to get his team the lead after they trailed by 12 at the start of the period. As he stepped to the free-throw line with 5 minutes and 44 seconds remaining in the game, chants of "MVP! MVP! MVP!" rained down from the rafters at the Smoothie King Center (still one of the most ridiculous arena names in the US).
Unfortunately, Alvin Gentry and the New Orleans training staff were holding Zion to a strict minutes limit, and they pulled him from the game shortly after, much to the chagrin of Pelicans fans. The Pels would later lose the game by 4 points, but their fans must have left the arena feeling more elation than they ever had after a loss. Their franchise savior had arrived. As an NBA player, you know you've arrived when media and fans alike almost exclusively refer to you by your first name. LeBron. Magic. Kobe. Shaq. Giannis. Kawhi. It almost feels weird to call these players by their last names. Zion had reached that universal level of appreciation before even stepping foot on an NBA court, and for good reason. He is a transcendental talent who is ready to take the league by storm.
When I attended the Las Vegas Summer League this past year, I had the amazing opportunity to watch Zion play live. After a full day of 8+ hours of watching basketball, I was pretty drained, to say the least. But the crowd was invigorated as Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett, former college teammates at Duke and fellow top-3 NBA draft selections, prepared to take the court for the first time. Zion pulled off a series of 360 and tomahawk dunks during the warmup layup line, as the crowd buzzed with energy. Before being injured and forced to leave the game, he made a series of plays and scored 11 points in 9 minutes. A massive 7.1 earthquake later shook the stadium to its foundation as fans from all over the country fled from the scene. I made my way to the first few rows in hopes of seeing Zion make a triumphant return to the game, but it was soon called off for safety concerns. I would sit through a tornado if it meant getting to see Zion play up close, but oh well.
The NBA desperately needs a presence like Zion Williamson, with the Pelicans already having several nationally televised games scheduled and league-wide ratings on the decline. He has the superstar gravitational pull of an early-career LeBron James, and he is exactly what the league needs with the CBA and television deals up for renegotiation in the upcoming few years. As Zion's health and confidence improve, so will his chemistry with his teammates. Brandon Ingram is having an outstanding career year which should earn him his first all-star nod. Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors, J.J. Redick, and E'Twaun Moore provide the veteran depth this team needs to surround young players like Zion, Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Jaxson Hayes, and Josh Hart. New Orleans sits just 4 games out of the playoffs, and with as much or more depth than anyone in the hunt for the 7 or 8 seed in the West, they seem capable of making a playoff run during the second half of this season.
Zion finished with 22 points on 8/11 from the field with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in just 18 minutes in one of the more memorable professional debuts in recent years. It was an absolute boon for the NBA that this game already happened to be scheduled for a primetime ESPN Wednesday matchup, and it undoubtedly turned in one of the best viewing audiences of the season. Zion has the potential to be an absolute superstar player, and the Pelicans suddenly have a much different vibe than they did a couple of weeks ago. The media will undoubtedly hype up this kid to no end over the next couple of months, but it's important to remember he's only 19 and will probably go through some growing pains. Still, Zion is unquestionably special and I'm thrilled to see how the rest of this season goes for him.
