While the Pelicans were readying to beat the Nuggets in Denver on Christmas Night, a little report broke about Zion Williamson trusting the New Orleans’ recovery plan for him. Furthermore, the Pelicans are teaching Williamson how to ‘run and walk differently’.
Indeed, this is from Jorge Sedano of ESPN who talked about this in the moments leading up to the Pelicans’ national broadcast game on Christmas.
I spoke to Zion Williamson earlier. He’s eager to play but says he trusts Pelicans' recovery plan. It’s less about the knee & more about re-programming his body.
Even re-training him to walk/run to strengthen his body.
@_Andrew_Lopez w/ write up https://t.co/M5uOwI4HbO
— Jorge Sedano (@Sedano) December 26, 2019
Obviously, the basketball played that night was secondary. It was smart of ESPN to lead off with some Williamson recovery timeline news. After all, New Orleans was given that game due to Williamson landing on their roster anyways.
From ESPN:
Williamson told Sedano that he “trusts the organization” in its decision-making, and he said his rehab process has been about more than just the recovery from surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee.
A source within the organization told ESPN that before Williamson makes his on-court return, the team would like him to undergo at least two or three practices doing full work. A source told Sedano the team is targeting just after the new year for those practices.
Finally, this is beginning to feel like Greg Oden 2.0 to me quickly. Remember, Oden was the number one overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Here are his career stats. Notably, Oden played just 105 career games before retiring after the 2013-2014 season.
Obviously, I would take the over 105 career games for Williamson; but all of this is concerning.
