Zion Williamson has come out of the last few days looking pretty bad even if he hasn’t played a single game this season. The revelation that he hadn’t personally spoken to CJ McCollum since the star was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans led to a lot of backlash for Zion, with many questioning if this was evidence of the fact that he is not committed to the franchise.
One of the loudest voices belonged to JJ Redick, who ripped into Zion on ESPN’s First Take, going as far as to refer to Zion as a ‘detached teammate’. Someone that has the credibility that Redick has used such harsh words was taken seriously by a number of people, and before people could accuse him of throwing a former teammate under the bus, JJ revealed that he has called Zion out for his lack of investment in the past (via ClutchPoints.com).
“I addressed this with Zion in front of the team. There is a responsibility that you have to have as an athlete when you play a team sport to be fully invested: To be fully invested in your body, your work, your teammates. And we have not seen that from Zion. As a teammate, there is a pattern of behavior. This is worrisome.”
The fact that this has a problem since Zion’s rookie year is a pretty big problem for the New Orleans Pelicans, who saw him become an All-Star in the first full season he played last season. A player of this caliber doesn’t come around too often and the organization needs to find a way to get Williamson more involved.
JJ Redick isn’t someone to pull any punches on camera and it’s also good to see that he’s comfortably telling players his slightly harsher takes to their face as well. How Zion responds to all this criticism remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely that he will be too pleased with all the shade that has been thrown his way recently.
