Zion Williamson has been away from the New Orleans Pelicans for a long time this season thanks to his foot injury that is taking much longer to recover from than was initially expected. The Pelicans have suffered without their All-Star, spending most of the season outside the automatic playoff spots in the Western Conference. This prompted the Pels to make a move at the trade deadline, and they acquired CJ McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers.
This is an exciting acquisition for New Orleans, McCollum is a bonafide second star in the NBA and someone that can help the team once they are back at full strength. But CJ dropped a bomb at All-Star Weekend, revealing that he hasn’t spoken to Williamson since his move. This led to quite the reaction from fans and media and now Zion’s former teammate in JJ Redick has called him out on ESPN for not reaching out to his new teammate.
.@jj_redick is concerned with how "detached" Zion Williamson has been from the team.
"This is a pattern of behavior that we are seeing again and again with Zion." pic.twitter.com/EmE6BeBvjv
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 22, 2022
“There’s a general decorum of behavior that you need to apply as a teammate… Like, this just shows a complete lack of investment in your team, in the organization, in the city. I get that he’s hurt and away from the team, but you just traded for one of the 50 best players in the league, a guy that’s supposed to be paired with you. Reach out and say hello.”
“This is a pattern that we’re seeing with Zion, again and again, look, I was his teammate. I can describe him as a detached teammate. That is an accurate statement. This is just a basic, basic level of humanity being a teammate.”
Redick’s words will seem harsh but this situation will have drawn the attention of various executives in the league that will be hoping to make a move for Zion. While it would be quite hard to believe if Zion were to leave at the end of his rookie contract, stranger things have happened in the NBA. New Orleans will be hoping they can get him back on the court and involved with the team long before something like that happens.
