Duke Basketball Great Zion Williamson Now Facing ‘Mental Battle'

Duke basketball product Zion Williamson was on track for an All-NBA campaign with the New Orleans Pelicans before a right hamstring strain in early January sidelined the former No. 1 overall draft pick. He averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.6 assists across the 29 games he played, and the Pelicans boasted a 23-14 record at the time.

But the 22-year-old has been out of commission since Jan. 2 due to a reaggravation of his strain in February. He's seen his team fall to No. 9 in the Western Conference standings and finish at 42-40 — 19-26 after he went out with injury — with only a slim chance of reaching the NBA Playoffs via two wins in this week's Play-In Tournament.

And they'll still be without the services of Williamson, who explained to the media on Tuesday afternoon what's holding him back from "feeling like Zion again" and returning to the court.

"It's a little bit of a mental battle," the 2018-19 Naismith Award winner said. "When I reaggravated it back in February, it was tough. So when I go to make certain moves [in workouts], there is that hesitation. Sometimes, there's not. But sometimes, there is...

"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."

Zion's full interview from after today's practice 🎙️#OneNOLA | #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/BEDYk8Xq2M
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 11, 2023

Williamson also noted that the decision on when he will play again is not entirely up to him. No, he and the team must "make the decision together."

"It sucks," he said about the setbacks that have left him as a mere spectator. "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 I just want to sit on the sideline just to sit over there, I don't know why people think that...I just want to be playing basketball, for real."

The Pelicans, featuring another former Duke basketball one-and-done in the 25-year-old forward Brandon Ingram, who has scored 30 or more points in seven of the squad's past 13 outings, host the No. 10 seed Oklahoma City Thunder at 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

If they lose, their season is over. Even if they win that game, to obtain the No. 8 seed and face the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, they must also pick up a victory on the road two nights later against the loser of Tuesday night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Should New Orleans manage to accomplish that feat, Zion Williamson would be unlikely to return in time for that potential series against the Nuggets, according to a report from The Athletic's Shams Charania on Monday.

"His conditioning is just not there," Charania explained during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. "From what I'm told, the Pelicans believe he's not even close to getting back on the floor."

"Frustrating" is the word Zion Williamson reiterated on Tuesday.

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