This news should not a shocker to anyone that has been following this story, but now it's official, Zion Williamson will not play for the remainder of the season as he continues to recover from foot surgery per The Atheltic's Shams Charania.
As the story goes, Williamson suffered a foot injury last summer that ended up needing surgery. The Pelicans didn't tell a soul until September with the belief that he would be ready to go for the start of the season. Williamson wasn't ready, obviously but was cleared to participate in basketball activities in November. Zion experienced yet another setback due to some soreness that he was experiencing in his foot. At one point, Williamson was on the other side of the country in Portland, rehabbing away from the rest of the team.
Even though NBA fans won't get to see the former No. 1 overall pick in action this year, there have been some encouraging signs that Williamson is finally making progress. According to Charania's report, Williamson has been seen "doing stationary shooting," and can put weight on his foot. Charania added that he has been attending a few home games where the 21-year-old forward apparently looked to be in "good spirits."
Injuries have played a major part in Williamson's career early on. His first run-in with the injury bud started when he missed 24 games during his rookie season with a torn right lateral meniscus and avoided any major injury altogether during his sophomore season.
You can say what you want about his weight and availability, but when he is on the court, Williamson is a force to be reckoned with. In his first healthy season in the NBA last year, Zion averaged 27-7-3 while earning his first appearance in the All-Star game. The same can be said about his COVID-ravaged rookie campaign, where he put up a similar stat line. When play resumed in the bubble in Orlando, Williamson left to attend to an 'urgent' family matter and was upset with the Pelicans managing his minutes due to a nagging knee injury.
In an effort to appease the star, GM David Griffin handed out copies of the book "The Alchemist," a story about a young shepherd looking for treasure to the players on the roster including Zion, and even tried to channel his inner Beethoven by playing the piano for Williamson. This is one of the main exampless people point to when discussing Zion's souring relationship with the Pelicans front office.
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Despite Williamson being M.I.A, the Pelicans have managed to work themselves into play-in contention at 30-41 (9th in the West) with only 11 games left in the regular season.
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