FEBRUARY 21, 5:06pm: Williamson sustained a Grade 1 right knee sprain and will be listed as day-to-day moving forward, the school announced. The injury news comes as a sigh of relief for Williamson, who exited the game shortly after suffering the injury on Wednesday.
FEBRUARY 20, 10:30pm: Duke — along with several NBA teams — received a scare when star forward Zion Williamson left tonight’s game with an injury in the opening minute. However, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the consensus No. 1 pick has been diagnosed with only a mild knee sprain, tweets AP basketball writer Tim Reynolds. He added that doctors found the knee to be stable, and more news is expected Thursday.
“We’re very concerned about Zion,” Krzyzewski said in a tweet sent out by the university. “It’s a mild knee sprain. We will know about length of time tomorrow. It’s stable. Obviously it has an impact. You lose the (National Player of the Year) on the first play.”
Williamson was hurt 36 seconds into a marquee matchup with North Carolina when his left shoe tore open, causing him to lose his balance. He left the court under his own power, but remained in the locker room for the rest of the game.
Several NBA players posted messages of support for Williamson on social media, relays ESPN. LeBron James and Spencer Dinwiddie both said they hoped Williamson would be OK, while Donovan Mitchell made a case that college athletes should be paid in a tweet that was supported by Trae Young.
Puma posted a message blaming the injury on Williamson’s Nike shoes, but later took it down (Twitter link from The Sporting News).
I don’t care if you love or hate Duke you hate seeing a kid/player as talented as Zion go down. Hope it’s nothing serious and he will be back soon.
Agreed. Love his energy and more so his enthusiasm. Refreshing.
Agree and appreciate the niceness if the sentiment. However, it’s a reminder of how fragile an athlete can be.
Also very cool of LeBron.
As a UNC fan, I hated to see him go down. Completely changes the narrative of the game.
The big thing for UNC is that it completely takes away from the impressiveness of the win
Bad day for whichever shoe company he was wearing.
Nike
New Balance knocking on his door.
So those limited edition Duke Kyrie PE’s will never hit the open market. Wouldn’t be surprised if that shoe ends up in Springfield one day, that of course is if some Cameron Crazy doesn’t snag it off EBay first.
They were PG13s in the exclusive duke colorways. That’s what was posted on ESPNs app right after the game.
I’m not a Duke fan, but I really hope Zion is ok. He’s great for the game.
Could of had a million dollar internship.
Found this on CNN, GQ I think. Williamson said he was 6’3″ and weighed 175 pounds, then gained 100 pounds in 2 years when in high school. I remember watching last years McDonald’s All American game. I think he had to leave it with a broken nose. He plays hard.
Once again, CBS is asking if Zion should sit the rest of the year to avoid injury. xcottie Pippen said several weeks ago he should.
He is paid. A college education. Very expensive for most of us. Don’t want it, don’t play college ball,
That one year of college….taking likely bare minimum 100 level classes….don’t think that’s gonna do much on any job applications.
Get rid of 1 and done. It’s a stupid rule.
It doesn’t matter whether it will help on a job application. The point is that your first year with 100 level classes still costs the same as your final year with 300 and 400 level classes specific to your major.
I agree 1 and done is a stupid rule. The NBA should start requiring a full bachelor’s degree. Most other professional organizations require college degrees and if they don’t at this moment, no one would look twice if they started. H&R Block requires a college degree no matter how good you are at college algebra. You cannot practice law without a degree even if you were the captain of your mock trial team. I’m certainly not going to drive across a bridge built by someone without an engineering degree. Everyone is acting as if these guys just deserve millions upon millions of dollars without actually really working for it. And playing college basketball and attending class is not really asking that much anyway.
As far as getting hurt goes, well sometimes that happens. It’s called life. Sometimes the most athletic guys have car accidents. Sometimes they have bad medical problems. It is tragic if it happens, but we shouldn’t change all the rules of our society because of a few individual tragedies.
He doesn’t need a college degree to play basketball. He’s proven that. He should sit the rest of the year at this point and rest.
Players this good don’t need college. Change the rule so they can go straight to the NBA.
My point wasn’t about the cost….it was how pointless it is to make him go to college at all. Not 1 single one and done has said that year of college did anything for them. Zero. It’s stupid, get rid of it. Let these kids make money at 18 if they’re good enough.
I agree that 1 year of college doesn’t do anything for you. That’s why I am arguing they should stay for 4. Since when does any 18 year old know what is good for him? I was an idiot at 18 and pretty much everyone else was too. And if you weren’t, all that means is that you aren’t old enough right now to realize how dumb you were then.
You think they are good enough, but I am saying they are far from a finished product. Guys are selling themselves short by not developing their games more.
As far as money goes, girls can make money by selling their bodies at 18 if they are good looking enough, but that doesn’t mean they should do it. It is basically the same thing for these young men. They are selling their bodies at the expense of their minds.
One of the most ridiculous things ever written here.
These people are the best in the world at basketball. Why should they also have to be academic?
It’s the fans that make their salaries so huge.
NBA should allow the jump from high school, and make the G League more of an enticing prospect.
College scholarships should require attending the full length of the degree term. Three year guys like Brogdon win, and a player like Zion can head straight to the league, either NBA or G from high school.
It’s not about being academic. It’s about learning to be a well-rounded adult. It’s the same reason someone majoring in accounting is still required to take science and literature classes. People are not meant to be THAT specialized.
What happens when these athletes fail at the NBA level? How are they supposed to support themselves for the rest of their lives? Those millions of dollars look nice, but the lifestyle lived by these players is VERY expensive. $20 million dollars would last me 4 lifetimes. It doesn’t last 4 years the way NBA players spend money. Part of being “academic” is learning how to manage your money, prepare budgets, figuring out how to not get ripped off by unscrupulous people, learning to speak other languages in case you have to play overseas, and many other skills that basketball players need to know. And that is not even including actually learning the game from such minds as Coach K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, and John Calipari among many others.
So you think to be a well rounded adult one have to go to Uni? Man you got issues…
Yuck, like I won’t waste my time explaining why you have absolutely no right to attempt to control other people’s lives. I don’t understand why your so convinced that college is good for anything besides a few important professions. But flat out your wrong in every way.
Nothing is owed to diaper dandies. No special treatment. IRL, jobs have requirements for entry. Many things do.
Your comment makes no sense. College as a whole is borderline pointless, there are a handful of useful degrees the rest are a total waste of time and money. Top basketball prospects are absolutely wasting their time taking huge chances for the NCAA to get richer. How dare you!