Zion Williamson has been out of action for nearly three months now and the New Orleans Pelicans have struggled in his absence.
A loss to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month left them with a 33-36 record and Zion called out his teammates after the defeat, as per NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“Zion he might not be putting work on the court right now for them but off the court, he is doing a lot,” Haynes said. “A source informed me that after the Pelicans lost to the Lakers on March 14th, Zion Williamson actually got on his team in the locker room after that game and was telling them, ‘Listen, guys, we are playing with no sense of urgency.'”
“I was told that he questioned their effort. I was told that he said accountability needs to be in-house and he said they can’t feel sorry for themselves just because they’ve had key players out for extended periods. So he’s challenging those guys to go out there and make do with what they got until they can get whole again.”
Chris Haynes says on the TNT broadcast that Zion Williamson got on his team in the locker room after the Pelicans lost to the Lakers on March 14. pic.twitter.com/h7CuINi0cq
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) March 29, 2023
Haynes added that it caught a lot of people by surprise. Zion doesn’t really come across as the type of individual who would do this, but he probably felt something had to be said at that point. The Pelicans were down 75-40 in the first half against a Lakers team that didn’t have LeBron James and that is unacceptable. CJ McCollum also called out the team after that loss and the group did respond.
The Pelicans narrowly lost their next game to the Houston Rockets but proceeded to win five in a row after that, with that winning streak coming to an end against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. They really should have beaten the Warriors too, as they were up by 20 points at one stage, but collapsed in the second half to fall to 38-38.
Chris Haynes Gave An Update On Zion Williamson’s Return
Zion’s last game for the Pelicans came all the way back on the 2nd of January against the Philadelphia 76ers. He suffered a setback during his recovery and has remained on the sidelines all this time. Haynes gave an update on Zion’s status during this game.
“There’s good news for the Pelicans,” Haynes said. “Zion Williamson is working out on the court. A source told me this morning that he had a rigorous workout this morning. Looking good, his explosiveness is looking there. As of right now, the plan is to be re-evaluated at some point in the middle of next week, and at that juncture, the Pelicans would only have about two games left in their schedule.”
“So coach Willie Green will have a decision to make as far as what they do. But again, as far as the re-evaluation goes it is not sure if he will be cleared at that time. So, there are still some hurdles but there is some good news, he is making some progress. No setbacks as of right now.”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1640900767686209537
If the Pelicans need to win their last two games to be in the play-in tournament, we might see Zion play this regular season. One has to wonder just how big of a factor he would be though, as he has missed so much time.
If he had been healthy all season, the Pelicans would have easily been in the top six in the Western Conference. He was averaging 26.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 4.6 APG, and 1.1 SPG before suffering that injury and has been sorely missed.
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