Zion Williamson has produced yet another Charlie-Brown-with-the-football moment.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced on Tuesday that their star forward Williamson has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 adductor strain in his right hip. Shams Charania of ESPN added that Williamson is expected to miss “extended time” and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
In response to the news, everyone said the same thing over social media. The general consensus was that it is time for the Pelicans to move on from Williamson.
Time to put a end to the Zion era in New Orleans https://t.co/mJrnZDrcu5
— jordan (@_itzjanderson) December 2, 2025
It’s about time for the Pelicans to trade Zion Williamson.
— DeeJay Johnson (@Go_DeeJay21) December 2, 2025
It’s time to move on from Zion Williamson. https://t.co/ezyxDARinZ
— (@BiasedHouston) December 2, 2025
Blessings to Zion but its time to move on. Hes literally never healthy. Even after folks told him it was the weight. https://t.co/3wiTFMg7he
— New Page Major (@Cam_Major) December 2, 2025
It’s time to say Bye Zion. https://t.co/ByhbXy0YWV
— Nequella (@NequellaD) December 2, 2025
The 25-year-old Williamson has been a major disappointment over the years ever since being selected by the Pelicans with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. While Williamson has managed to make two All-Star teams in New Orleans, the overarching story of his career has been problems with diet, conditioning, and injuries (sometimes all at once).
Williamson has only played 70 or more games in a season once in his career, and he has had four separate years of appearing in 30 games or fewer (not including this year). This season, Williamson has appeared in just 10 games, missing time with a hamstring injury before a brief five-game return then led to this latest adductor injury.
Now at a woeful 3-18 on the season, the Pelicans have still seemed surprisingly committed to Williamson, who also sparked hope by entering the year in supposedly better physical shape. But with Williamson’s latest injury likely set to sideline him for the remainder of the calendar year, fans feel like New Orleans should very much reconsider their stance at this point.