Zion Williamson is yet to return to the court after suffering a right foot injury last season. The New Orleans Pelicans superstar has missed more games than he’s played in his first three seasons, setting the alarms at Smoothie King Center.
He was expected to become the leader of this team, but his body hasn’t been kind to Zion, who suffered another setback last week when the Pelicans shut down any basketball activity for him.
This situation has worried plenty of fans who don’t think we will see the 21-year-old fulfilling his potential. Well, many folks still have faith in him and believe we’re yet to see the best from Zion. For instance, former head coach Stan Van Gundy tried to bring some hope to the fandom, comparing Williamson’s first three years to Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid.
SVG stated that with all the injuries he sustained since entering the league, Zion has still played more games than Embiid during his first three years.
“It is unfortunate that Zion Williamson has missed so many games in his first 3 years. He is a tremendous talent and one of the most exciting players in the league. But keep things in perspective. He has played almost 3 times as many games as Embiid did in his first 3 years.”
https://twitter.com/realStanVG/status/1471843440254242818
Van Gundy has a valid point there. After being drafted in 2014, Embiid missed the first two seasons of his NBA career due to a foot injury, playing only 31 games in his third campaign in the league. In contrast, Zion has played 86 games, which is a lot more than Joel.
Knowing how well Embiid’s career has developed in the past couple of seasons, Pelicans fans could be hopeful that their franchise player will return to the court and will have a terrific stint with them. After the Pels banned any basketball activity for Zion last week, the player received an injection in his right foot to boost its healing. He’ll be re-evaluated in one month to see how his injury has progressed.
