It only took Zion Williamson three quarters to find his groove in Wednesday night’s highly-anticipated debut against the Spurs.
He finished with 22 points, 17 of which came in the fourth, went 4-4 from three, and almost single-handedly propelling the Pelicans to a late-game lead.
Needless to say, it confirmed what many were already thinking: the dude has some serious talent.
In fact, according to David Griffin, one aspect of his game is already the best he’s ever had on any of his teams.
(via Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports)
David Griffin has said many times this year that he has never seen a player like Zion Williamson, who is 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds. He claims that Williamson has more lateral quickness than any point guard that has played under him. Keep in mind, Griffin has led or been a part of front offices that employed Kyrie Irving, Steve Nash, Stephon Marbury and Jason Kidd. More mobility than those guys?
“Yes,” Griffin told me recently. “Without a doubt.”
When talking about someone who’s 285 pounds, they are typically the slowest on the court, especially laterally. But in Zion’s debut, he seemed to really excel in this area.
In one particular play in the fourth, he gets blocked going up for a shot but is able to quickly regain control of the ball and lay it up on the other side.
There was a lot to see that night, and it seems Zion is not afraid of the pressure placed on him by the Pelicans and the NBA to be the next great star.
While he’s still got a lot of progress to make, the season debut was definitely a step in the right direction for the young rookie, and there will no doubt be many more moments to come.
