Yahoo Sports Daily host Jason Fitz reacts to Zion Williamson’s latest injury and discusses what it means for his long-term future with the New Orleans Pelicans. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
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Video Transcript
Zion Williamson out for at least 7 to 10 days with a left hamstring strain.
Now, at least is a key part of the words here because what we know is that in 7 to 10 days, he will be re-evaluated.
So there’s no assurance that it is only a 7 to 10 day injury.
This is the moment where you could say bad has gotten even worse because this year we were supposed to get a different version of Zion.
And in some ways we have.
He leads the teams in points per game, 22.8, leads the team in boards per game, 6.8, leads the team in assists per game, 4 points.
6.
He’s doing everything you need him to do on the floor.
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And certainly, he is a lighter, brighter version of Zion Williamson, but he’s already missed one game this season because of a foot contusion.
So you could say he’s only missed.
I’m going to say he’s already missed because so far in 6 seasons of his career, he’s played 61 or more games twice in his entire career.
So part of the concern whenever we talk about the greatness of Zion, isn’t going to be just how great is he on the floor.
That’s conversation A.
Conversation B is, can you ever get enough reliable basketball out of Zion Williamson to actually build a team around him.
And as much as it pains me to say this, the answer so far to that question has clearly been no.
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He’s 25 years old at this point.
6 seasons in, his body’s not going to break down less as he gets older.
And this season, because of the care and attention he obviously put into training throughout the course of the offseason, we had hoped that this would be a year where he exploded onto the.
And most importantly, stayed healthy while he did it.
Yes, the production is undeniable, but also in the same breath, undeniable is that you cannot rely on Zion Williamson to play enough games to even be in the MVP conversation most years.
Nonetheless, actually build your franchise around.
And now at 0 and 6, the Pelicans are gonna have to take a long look in the mirror and figure out if there’s anything left that they can salvage out of what was supposed to be a can’t miss superstar in the NBA.