Pelicans star Zion Williamson underwent surgery on his right foot this offseason, executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin told reporters today (video link).
According to Griffin, Williamson fractured his foot while working out prior to Summer League (Twitter links via Andrew Lopez of ESPN). The former No. 1 overall pick broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
Griffin added that he doesn’t think it’s “terribly likely” that Williamson will play in preseason games, but said the team has been working closely with him during his recovery and believes he’ll be ready for the regular season next month.
While it’s a bit ominous that Williamson – who has dealt with leg injuries in the past – is on the mend again, and that the Pelicans waited until now to announce it, it may not have a major impact on the team if the prognosis presented by Griffin is accurate and Zion doesn’t miss time during the regular season.
Still, that’s a big “if” and it’s probably safe to assume the Pelicans will be cautious with their franchise player — he may not play both games of back-to-back sets right away, for instance, or he may be eased back into action on a minutes limit. His recovery will be worth watching closely in the coming weeks.
It’s funny how people say “imagine if he played football” I honestly believe this guy wouldn’t last a month playing in the NFL let alone NCAA.
NOP better watch out for their own incompetence!
They already upset Zion in his rookie year for their overcautiousness… surely they won’t be stupid enough to make the same mistake, right?
Dude just wanna play, so let him!
No wonder Griffin was in a bad mood. Good info for predicting the SW division a couple pages over. It was already a young changeable group.
This could be nothing.
But Zion has had a lot of knicks and knacks in his young career. And he’s a 300+ lb dude who jumps out of the gym, coming out there was that question of whether or not his body could hold up long-term.
Not a great omen.