Zion Williamson is slated to miss six-to-eight weeks with a torn meniscus in his right knee. While some have speculated that Williamson’s injury occurred because of his weight, GM David Griffin made it clear he doesn’t buy into that theory.
“The notion that this happened because Zion is in poor condition is asinine,” Griffin said of Williamson (via Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com). “He wasn’t in poor condition when he went 12 of 13 last week against Utah. That’s not what it is. He’s just a very unique body type and certainly from a physics perspective.”
Exactly when Williamson sustained the injury is unclear. He let the team know of knee discomfort in mid-October, a couple of days after the Pelicans’ preseason game against the Spurs.
The team’s medical staff is working with the No. 1 overall pick to learn more about his body, as there have been few players with Williamson’s particular type of athletic build.
“He can be 274 pounds with 8.5% body fat and he can be 280 pounds with 9% body fat,” Griffin said. “As we have gone through the process for our medical team, learning how to keep him lean and give him the core strength and stability and control he needs to handle all that torque he generates, typically that means you are going to do things to strengthen those areas.
“In this case, he gains muscle mass so fast and gains weight so fast, no one has ever dealt with anybody like him. He’s 19 and it’s going to be a learning experience for all of us.”
Williamson played in four preseason games this fall. He averaged 23.0 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 71.0% from the field.
While the team has set Williamson’s recovery timetable at six-to-eight weeks, Griffin said today that he expects the former Duke star to try to make it back sooner than that.
