Zion Williamson 'Not Close' To Returning From Injury Amid Conditioning Concerns
Yesterday at 06:43 PM
It must be a day that ends in a Y because New Orleans Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson is battling another injury.
After playing a career-high 70 games for the Pelicans in the 2023-24 NBA season, Zion has been limited to just six games to start the 2024-25 season. Unfortunately for his fans, they're probably not going to be seeing him in the immediate future either.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania declared that Zion is "not close to coming back." He clarified that he won't be back either this week or the next week and is only gradually doing "very light activity" while trying to regain game-playing fitness.
"He's not close to coming back. He will not be back this week, not going to be back next week... He did start to get on the court over the weekend, but very light activity," Charania said.
"He's not close to coming back. He will not be back this week, not going to be back next week... He did start to get on the court over the weekend, but very light activity."
— Justin (@ProPelsTalk) December 3, 2024
-Shams on Zion
pic.twitter.com/0PKLXcobM9
Fans are not at all amused by Zion's latest injury woes. Some are ready to simply declare that he's a bust due to his injuries while other are pointing to his weight and conditioning as the underlying issue.
"Zion Williamson is officially in bust category. I don't think that's a stretch to say anymore," one user asserted.
"Is it official that Zion Williamson's diet just completely derailed his career?" wrote another.
"This man injures his hamstring and it's like he torn an ACL just his recovery times needs to be studied," a third wrote.
Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft has long been admonished for his weight and conditioning and his recent injuries have only added more fuel to the fire on that part.
Zion is now in his sixth NBA season and has played a grand total of 190 games. By the looks of things, that current average of about 32 games per year looks more likely to go down than up by the end of this season.
Related: Zion Williamson Reveals How He Reacted After Injury This Season
