Indeed, in the day after the day after; the shockwaves are still felt from Zion Williamson’s historic debut.
First of all, I can’t wait to see the guy next. If anyone has an NBA.tv subscription; please hit me up. I am kidding. But the kid was good enough I might consider buying a half-season package on the heels of the All-Star break.
The big story in the wake of Williamson’s debut is how badly he wanted to stay in the game. Remember, the Pelicans lost by a narrow margin to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Equally important, the only reason they were in the game was because of Williamson’s fourth-quarter scoring barrage. At one point, he had 17 straight. Thus, he’s the talk of the league even days after.
Now Andrew Lopez who covers hoops for ESPN reports how badly Williamson wanted to stay in the game in the dramatic fourth quarter.
Gentry says Zion “wasn’t happy” when he had to come out the game in the 4th quarter.
“I don’t think anybody would be.”
Added that as a coach, he wasn’t going to pull him. It was a medical decision.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 23, 2020
Following the game, Marc Spears of ESPN spoke to Gentry about what Williamson was saying in the team huddle.
“(Zion) was saying, ‘Please don’t take me out. I’m going to win that game for us. Please!’ I said, ‘I don’t have a choice.’ I said, ‘I can leave you in, but you’ll have a new coach in the morning.”
Obviously, this is going to remain a topic for the rest of the season. It’s possible that this is a topic of discussion for the superstar’s entire career as well. The Pelicans appear to be leaning heavily on the opinion of medical experts to manage Zion’s workload.
“(Zion) was saying, ‘Please don’t take me out. I’m going to win that game for us. Please!’ I said, ‘I don’t have a choice.’ I said, ‘I can leave you in, but you’ll have a new coach in the morning,’” #Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. #NBA @TheUndefeated https://t.co/YZxbzOdJCr pic.twitter.com/ND3QIBXQox
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 23, 2020
Finally, Adrian Wojnarowski provides some great content for all on his Woj Podcast. He spoke to Williamson after his debut about his body type and how he moves. Williamson says he’s just a unique case, and it might be something that people have to get used to watching and realize it’s not something they have seen before.
Give this a listen:
Full debut night audio of @zionwillamson, Alvin Gentry and David Griffin on The Woj Pod: https://t.co/xKGqG6p2Tm pic.twitter.com/O56nM3VQzd
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2020
Finally, the Pelicans host the 30-14 Denver Nuggets at Smoothie King Center on Friday night. If you’re not doing anything, sounds like something that should be good television. We will have something to say about it after the game wraps up. This kid is an interesting topic in all of sports right now.
