The New Orleans Pelicans are a team to watch during the 2022-23 NBA season. They ended last season on a high note, shockingly making the postseason after a disastrous start to their season. The acquisition of CJ McCollum ahead of the trade deadline helped turn the team around, as he combined with Brandon Ingram to make a dynamic duo.
That duo will become a trio this season with the addition of Zion Williamson. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft missed the entire 2021-22 season because of a broken foot that he suffered during the offseason. While he got close to returning a few times, it was ultimately not in the cards.
He has spent the last few months rehabbing and getting into phenomenal shape. When healthy, Williamson is one of the most dominant players in the NBA and he is looking forward to reminding the people who may have forgotten that.
“They’re going to see that I’ve matured off the court and on the court,” Williamson said. “And they’re also gonna see that my game has evolved. I’m gonna show the world things that I’ve had in my arsenal that I didn’t show before.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Zion Williamson & New Orleans Pelicans Updates
Injuries are a brutal part of the game which Williamson knows all too well about. He has spent more of his NBA career sidelined with an injury than healthy and playing on the court. Williamson has played in only 85 out of a potential 226, missing 141 games, not including the NBA Play-In Tournament or postseason.
It was something that he admitted was very difficult to handle. Being away from his teammates led to some tough situations to handle.
“I was in dark places at times,” Williamson says, “because I couldn’t play basketball. I could only do limited rehab things. And then just seeing how the world reacted? It took a lot. It did a lot on my spirit.”
“I’ve grown,” Williamson says. “I learned a lot about myself, learned more about the game.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Zion Williamson & New Orleans Pelicans Updates
There were a lot of nasty things said about Williamson during his time away. People have speculated that he wanted out of New Orleans from the second his name was announced at the 2019 NBA Draft. Some of that attention was turned to his family, as they were reportedly the ones pushing for a change.
For whatever reason, families are sometimes brought into these situations, which makes them that much worse. They have even less control over things than the players, yet some people feel the need to criticize them. Williamson’s mother, stepdad and brother, who was only eight years old, caught a lot of it.
“To see it affecting my family, it weighed on me,” Williamson says. “An 8-year-old having to deal with stuff like that, being asked questions that he don’t fully understand yet, that’s a lot. It bothers me that people would even do that to him.”
“I felt helpless. I couldn’t do nothing about it. While [pundits] are telling me I don’t care about my teammates, or I’m a bad teammate, or I don’t want to be somewhere, the whole time I’m worried about my foot. I’m worried about, Man, I hope my foot heals right, because if it doesn’t, who knows, I may not get to play basketball again.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Zion Williamson & New Orleans Pelicans Updates
Many people were questioning Williamson’s motivation when he was injured, calling him a bad teammate for not being around while rehabbing. Trade rumors swirled about where he could end up should he demand a trade. That is a lot for anyone to handle, let alone someone who is only 21 and trying to navigate young adulthood after being in the spotlight since his high school days.
For now, Williamson is committed to the Pelicans and helping them take that next step. He signed a five-year supermax rookie extension in the offseason, doubling down on his commitment. This is a team capable of making some noise in the Western Conference and as long as Williamson remains healthy, they could surprise some people during the 2022-23 season.
