Zion Williamson has been the subject of some debate over the past few weeks. Despite him averaging an impressive 23.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for the New Orleans Pelicans this year, lingering memories of his weight and injury issues from last season live on in people’s minds.
One week ago, former Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone made headlines when he took issue with certain aspects of Williamson’s game.
This week, Williamson’s teammate, J.J. Redick, gave his own assessment of the 20-year-old rising star.
“I think what’s remarkable to me is like you watch him play and he shoots 15 layups to his left hand ever game,” Redick said on ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast.
“I think every NBA player would be like ‘I wish I want to get 15 layups to my strong dominant hand, every game’. That’s a high percentage shot. No one else can do it.
“When he’s inside 15 feet or 17 feet, his ability to get from point A to point B with that amount of force and quickness at his size and with his strength. There’s just not a lot of people in the world who can do that. That’s the more impressive thing.”
Beyond that, Redick reminded everyone just how young Williamson is. He is only in his second year as a pro and he is already dominating many of his opponents.
“I think the exciting part is, you see him continue to develop his handle, his passing, and all the different skill required,” Redick continued.
“He’s going to be even better. His ceiling is very high. His baseline is already 25 points per game night score at a very efficient level and that’s just a 20-year-old.”
Now we know what motivates Gronk to play so hard. https://t.co/xFnKnjoXQ4
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 24, 2021
Williamson is currently averaging 23.4 points on 58 percent shooting from the field, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.0 steals in 33.1 minutes per game.
If Wililamson can continue to do well and restore some semblance of respectability to the Pelicans franchise, then all this chatter about his weight and whatever else will go away. People will focus on his girlfriend or something equally trivial.
However, if he can’t keep playing good basketball and a repeat of last season does occur, don’t be surprised if Williamson’s skills become a popular topic of conversation once more.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
