Oft-injured Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson is injured yet again. New Orleans has announced (via Twitter) that the 6’8″ forward suffered a posterior hip contusion near the end of New Orleans’s 122-121 overtime loss to the Jazz on Sunday.
The severity of the ailment, which could indicate a recovery timeline, has not been revealed as of yet. It’s unclear whether Williamson will be able to play through it. Across his first two games this season, the former first overall pick had been averaging 20.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG and 2.5 SPG for the Pelicans.
New Orleans’ other star forward, Brandon Ingram, also departed the contest early after the club determined that he had incurred concussion-like symptoms from a head injury, reports Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Ingram bumped into Pelicans reserve small forward Naji Marshall while trying to make a steal. Ingram had averaged 28.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 6.0 APG through his first two complete contests. He played just 11 minutes against the Jazz before exiting the game.
New Orleans currently sports a 2-1 record on the young 2022/23 NBA season. That said, should either Williamson or Ingram be sidelined for an extended duration, the club may need to lean on shooting guard CJ McCollum for further scoring punch, and could be looking for further minutes from reserves Marshall, Trey Murphy III, and Larry Nance Jr. if it needs to compensate for the absence of Williamson and/or Ingram.
Last year, an upstart Pelicans team pushed the Suns to a hotly-contested six-game first round Western Conference playoff series. With Williamson back in the fold to start the season, the club is hoping to build on that result this year.
Iron Lion Zion!
Whoops
Street clothes Zion
Let’s not jump to conclusions fellas, it said there’s a chance he can play through it!
Has to stay in shape this yr. His style of playing, and his size. Puts a lot of pressure on the joints and muscles. 250 lbs tops is right for me. Stay healthy Zion …….
How could you not mention Trey Murphy in this article for who would pick up minutes if either is out
Being healthy and available matters. Gonna be hard to keep Zion healthy for years to come. This kid is gonna quickly learn like all the dunkers before him …. It takes a toll on your body. If you don’t develop a jumper, you will then cease to be an impact player in the league.
Brandon Ingram is the “real” franchise player for New Orleans.
Can you imagine the Lakers right now with LeBron, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Ivica Zubac at the 5.
Ooops!
They would be minus a ring and still not good enough to win one this year…
Yeah there is a reason all these kids “get good” after leaving the lakers.
*after leaving Lebum
Lebron 100% would not play with Ingram, too similar styles, plus Lebron wouldnt let Ingram touch the ball. Lebron James is the most selfish player of all-time, and is always the issue, not anyone else.
We can even add Alex Caruso and Jordan Clarkson, last year’s 6th man of the year runner-up, and Brook Lopez to the bench.
Zion Williamson, Christian McCaffrey, Petr Mrazek, These guys getting hurt is such an anomaly. I mean what’s next, You’re gonna tell me Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball are gonna have bad knee days. Opposite day? Come On!
Rumor has it that Rick Ankiel is also injured again.
and yet, Kevon Looney, who actually is made of glass, played all 82 last year…interesting….
And the Jazz refuse to lose again. Olynyk with the game winner!
The tremors when Fat Zion hit the floor were registered by instruments around the world.
The Jazz are fun to watch. Slimmed-down Lauri Markkanen looks like the explosive SF/PF that entered the NBA out of the University of Arizona, until the idiotic Bulls tried to transform him into a bulky stiff at the 5.
The Jazz somehow flipped their roster over from contender to contender…it hasnt really landed on people Collin Sexton is on that team. This is a playoff team, unlike the Lakers. Great front office-ing from Utah here….
Most people forget that there was a time that choosing between Garland and Sexton wasn’t a no-brainer …… the promise of a Dirk-like Markkanen hasn’t panned out yet, but still he was a quality guy to have on that bench.
Olynk has always been a decent stretch forward, good enough for the HEAT to trade him for an Oladipo ……. baffling that the PISTONS gave up on him, they need veteran leadership now.
JAZZ has some nice pieces, they can compete, but they will inevitably tank at some point this season.