New Orleans Pelicans ever-absent star Zion Williamson took the court Tuesday night against the Timberwolves after being sidelined since November 6 with a strained hamstring.
On Monday, ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that Williamson participated in practice last week. After the initial report tagged him as questionable, he was cleared to play hours before tip off.
In the Pelicans’ 104-97 loss, Williamson notched an efficient 22 points on 9 of 15 from the floor and registered a team-best +8 in plus-minus.
So far this season, the power forward has logged just six games, averaging 22.7 PTS, 8.0 REB, 5.3 AST and 1.2 BLK.
His difficulty staying on the court in 2024-25 is the latest challenge in a tantalizing career of potential stardom that poor health has kept from taking full flight.
Since the Pelicans drafted him first overall out of Duke in 2019, Williamson has played just 190 games in six years in the league. A foot fracture held him out for the entirety of 2021-22. While NBA fans have grown understandably weary of his stints on and off the hardwood, hopefully the near future will present a change in the 24-year-old’s fortunes.
If Only Zion Williamson Would Quit Getting Injured
Listed at 6’6” and 284 pounds, Williamson entered the league heralded as a “baby Shaquille O’Neal” blessed with better shooting. When healthy, he has mostly lived up to this appraisal.
In his career, he has scored 24.6 PPG to go with 6.6 RPG and 4.2 APG while shooting 58.7% on field goals and 34.1% from distance. Just as important for an explosive big man, he is capable of sinking free throws. (Though his first game back he proved a bit rusty, going 4-9 at the stripe.) While his career clip of 69.4% is mediocre at best, it prevents him from becoming a liability in crunch time, a la “hack a Shaq.”
Last season, he appeared in a career-high 70 games, providing hope for his future durability. But the same hamstring problems that have hobbled him in the past cropped up again in 2024. His $36 million salary has been dead weight.
For New Orleans, Zion isn’t the only member of their would-be dominant core who can’t seem to stay off the sidelines. Injuries have hampered the franchise from top to bottom.
New Orleans Pelicans Cannot Repel Injury Bug
The Pelicans once again proceeded without Brandon Ingram (ankle) against Minnesota, marking the 13th consecutive absence for the fellow Duke alumnus. Since arriving the same year Williamson was drafted, he has missed 141 games to Zion’s 256.
Like his Blue Devil NBA teammate, Ingram has been stellar when present. In his Pelicans career, he has never averaged below 20.8 PTS, 4.9 REB, or 4.2 AST, or shot below 46.1% from the floor. His on-court contributions have been remarkably consistent given his disruptive injury history.
Forward Trey Murphy, who is having a breakout a season (20.7 PPG), also missed Tuesday’s contest with an ankle sprain. Point guard Dejounte Murray, acquired in the offseason from the Atlanta Hawks, was listed as a game-time decision due to elbow soreness. He ended up playing and scored 29 points.
With a core of Williamson, Ingram, Murray, Murphy, CJ McCollum (22.8 PPG) and defensive stalwart Herb Jones, the Pelicans have almost too much talent to go around. At least, it certainly seems that way given that this group rarely plays together.
Pairing Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram Has Produced 5 Years of Letdown for New Orleans Pelicans and Their Fans
Perhaps just as troubling, Zion, Ingram and McCollum were in fact healthy for most of last season, playing a combined 200 games, but ultimately without impressive results. The Pelicans finished 49-33 and 7th in the Western Conference, but were swept in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Williamson scored 40 points in New Orleans’ play-in loss to the Lakers before suffering a mysterious leg injury with three minutes to go. He did not enter another game in the 2024 postseason.
That game remains the first and only playoff experience of his NBA career.
As a whole, the team has made the playoffs only twice in the Zion-Ingram era, losing in the first round both times. New Orleans hoped that adding Murray would change the calculus, but injuries continue to keep the team on crutches.
Amidst an abysmal season, the front office appears to be shopping its stars for draft capital.
Over the weekend, the 7-30 last-place Pelicans snapped an 11-game losing streak by beating the Washington Wizards, who occupy last place in the Eastern Conference, in back-to-back games. Next up is a Wednesday date with Portland. It would not be surprising if Zion sits for injury management reasons.
Whenever he does take the court, simply seeing him in action should cause greater excitement for Pels fans than the final score of the game.
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