Zion Williamson pulled up to the New Orleans Pelicans team flight to New York wearing a newspaper headline tee shirt of Michael Jordan’s famous “I’m Back.” back letting the world know he was coming out of retirement.
After missing last season with a broken foot, Williamson joined a revamped Pelicans core to wipe out the Brooklyn Nets in a 130-108 blowout. Williamson scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds, three assists, and four steals in 30 minutes of action. The all-around performance gives fans a real sense of how dominant he was in his return. However, Williamson says he had just “a decent starter performance.”
After the game, Williamson said, “It’s a lot of room for improvement. I’m still learning my teammates. Now we get real in-game reps. I’m just excited to grow.”
Looking at Williamson’s stats from the last time he played, Williamson has reason to believe his outstanding performance was not on par with his standard performances. He went an efficient 11-22 from the floor, slightly down from his career 60.4 percent field goal shooting. His teammates and Coach Willie Green weren’t so rigid with their praise.
Coach Willie Green said it was like Williamson “didn’t miss a beat.” Fellow All-Star teammate Brandon Ingram said he “picked up where he left off.”
Even his opponents were impressed with his seamless return to play.
“He looked healthy to me,” Kevin Durant said. “He looked good. Got up 22 shots, nine rebounds, 25 points. At this point, it’s just typical for him.”
Williamson has been dominant since the moment he stepped on an NBA floor. Everyone and we mean everyone, will be watching and waiting for his dominance to continue.
