Throughout the course of this season, a lot has been made about Zion Williamson and his conditioning. During Summer League action, Williamson hurt his knee and missed the first half of the season before coming back in late January. While Williamson was a show-stopper prior to the suspension of the season, it seems as though he is now on a minutes restriction inside of the bubble.
During a recent episode of the Hoop Collective Podcast, ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst spoke in-depth about Zion's struggles and how some think this boils down to a lack of conditioning. Windhorst said some sources saying that Williamson is simply not in good enough shape and that he shouldn't even be playing, let alone going on a minute reduction.
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“When you watch him play, he clearly is not in condition to compete at the highest level,” Windhorst said. “As I watched him play two games, I don’t actually think they should have played him at all the way he’s playing. In fact, I talked to a scout who said to me he shouldn’t be out there right in the condition he’s in. He said to me he’s moving worse than he did in Summer League last summer when he got hurt in his first or second game. I don’t know if that’s because he’s out of condition or if he has something that they’re not discussing, but this is one of the things the Pelicans have to deal with."
Windhorst also theorizes that Williamson could be dealing with an undisclosed injury, although that conclusion is purely conjecture.
Stay tuned for updates regarding Zion as we will be sure to provide you with the latest information.
