Zion Williamson recently underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery, knocking him out of action for six to eight weeks, but David Griffin insists it had nothing to do with the rookie’s weight.
Williamson is in “elite” physical condition, says the New Orleans Pelicans’ EVP of basketball ops.
The 19-year-old reported tightness in his knee last Wednesday, leading to the diagnosis of a torn lateral meniscus.
Per The Times-Picayune:
“We are extremely optimistic that he is going to be really, really good coming out of this,” Griffin said. “I’m a firm believer that a lot of times these things are blessings in disguise. You sorta reset the deck now and he gets to realize what’s in front of him and I think that’s a good thing.”
Griffin also discredited any suggestions that Williamson’s injury is related to his weight, calling the rookie phenom “an elite athlete” and a “freak of nature.”
“The notion that this happened because Zion is in poor condition is asinine,” Griffin said. He wasn’t in poor condition when he went 12 of 13 last week. That’s not what it is. He’s just a very unique body type and certainly from a physics perspective.”
Griffin compares Williamson’s body type and athleticism to that of Detroit Pistons’ forward Blake Griffin.
“Less weight, less torque is a theory,” David Griffin said. “But you look at a player like Blake Griffin who generated enormous torque and had the issues he had his career. It took a while for him to find stasis in his body and we think that could be the same with Zion.”
