When you read the quotes from Zion Williamson, this doesn’t sound like a player who plans on returning to the court any time soon.
There is a big difference between being medically cleared and mentally being prepared to play the game at a high-intensity level. Zion has some hesitation about getting back on the court regardless of how much his team needs him in the play-in game.
Asked how close he is to feeling ready to play, Williamson replied, “Physically I’m fine, now it’s just a matter of when I feel like Zion. I know the atmosphere I’d be entering based off like the playoff experience. So now it’s just a matter of when I feel like Zion.”
When explaining the mental hurdles of returning to game action, Williamson pointed to not wanting to negatively impact the team when he’s on the court because of any lingering hesitation.
“It’s a little bit of a mental battle, because you know when I reaggravated [the injury] back in February, it was tough,” Williamson said. “So when I go to make certain moves, there is that hesitation. Sometimes there’s not and sometimes there is. And I understand the magnitude of these games coming up and I don’t want to be out there hesitating or doing something that may affect my team in a bad way.”
Williamson added that he knows he “would be in my head” when trying to get out there to play.
If the Pelicans beat the Thunder on Wednesday, they would advance to face the loser of Tuesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Williamson will not play in either of those two games, but when asked if he could play in a first-round series against the Nuggets, Zion said, “If I feel like Zion, I’ll be out there.”
Zion also said the social media criticisms are getting to him.
“It’s tough. I can’t lie,” Williamson said. “From my perspective, I just want to play basketball. I want to hoop, I want to play the game I love. But the reality of it is whether I check my phone, whether I’m just watching TV, no matter what it is, I can’t really escape what the world thinks, what people’s opinions are. So, it’s frustrating.”
“I mean, this s— sucks,” Williamson said. “I don’t know how else to say it. It just sucks. I love this game. I say it over and over. For those people that think that I just want to sit on the sideline just to sit over there, I don’t know why people think that, but nah, it sucks. I want to be playing basketball for real.”
I wouldn’t expect to see Zion back on the court until next season, and we can only pray he stays healthy.
