This season, much like every season since Zion Williamson arrived in New Orleans, was supposed to be different.
Zion had finally figured it out.
And if there were things he couldn’t quite figure out, at least Joe Dumars was now in the building with the keys to unlock all the rest of that untapped potential.
It was hard not to believe, even for the biggest Zion skeptics.
After all, you saw the noticeable difference in Williamson’s physique, the results of an offseason where he clearly put in the work to get in the best shape of his NBA career.
And you also heard it, straight from the mouth of Zion, before the season began, when talking about the difference between talent (which he has plenty of) and greatness (which he hasn't yet reached).
“Greatness is every day,” Williamson said at media day in September. “It’s when you don’t want to do it and when you want to do it. It’s when facing crazy adversity. Greatness is you do it every day. You show up every day. You make it happen every day.”
Unfortunately, Williamson hasn't shown up every day. Williamson missed his 14th game Saturday when the Pelicans lost to the Brooklyn Nets.
In April, when Dumars was hired as the Pelicans’ new executive vice president of basketball operations, it seemed Dumars' messages were getting through to Williamson. All the conversations they shared about responsibility and accountability were just what the Pelicans needed to remove the bitter taste of the past season, when the team won just 21 games.
“I know he’s going to hold me to a really high standard,” Williamson said.
Fast forward to the present and not much has changed from years past. The Pelicans (3-21) played their 24th game Saturday. Williamson has played in just 10 of them. His latest setback (a grade 2 right adductor strain) is a bit of a mystery, popping up unexpectedly on the injury report Tuesday afternoon after not being on it the day before.
Williamson played last Saturday in a loss to the Golden State Warriors, but sat out the next day against the Los Angeles Lakers to load manage the hamstring strain that sidelined him for eight games earlier in the season. That absence was expected considering Williamson doesn’t typically play both games of a back-to-back. The last time he played on consecutive nights was in October of last season.
Pelicans’ interim coach James Borrego didn’t have any details on when or how the injury occurred when asked on Tuesday, a few hours after the team announced it. When asked the next day if he had any clarity on it, Borrego had this to say.
"No clarity on that,” Borrego said. “I’m assuming the Golden State game."
Williamson is expected to be re-evaluated in another two weeks, according to a report by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. Williamson was smiling and chatting with teammates and coaches at Wednesday's practice, the day after the latest diagnosis. And he was vocal in the film session before practice.
"He’s going to put the work in and we are going to get him back," Borrego said. "He's in great spirits. Pumped the team up. I expect him to be a vocal leader."
But the Pelicans need the face of the franchise to be more than just a cheerleader offering moral support. They need him to lead the team, just as he vowed he would back in September.
“Whatever my team needs, that’s what I will do,” Williamson said in September.
The team needs him to play. That's it. When he does, they have a chance. Williamson made that clear two seasons ago when he played in a career-high 70 games and the team won 49 games, tied for the second most in franchise history. When he doesn't play, things become much more difficult. Of the 496 games the Pelicans have played since the Pelicans drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, Williamson has played in 224 of them. That’s only 45.2 % of the games, a number that has to have former head coach Willie Green (fired last month) scratching his head and wondering “what if?”
As Williamson's absences pile up, so do the losses. And as the losses increase, so does the frustration among the fanbase.
It's why the Smoothie King Center had more empty seats than filled ones this week in a pair of losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
You can make a case that it’s time to move in a new direction and build the team around someone else. Dumars and his right-hand man Troy Weaver brought in some rock-solid pieces this offseason in Saddiq Bey, Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, Micah Peavy and Bryce McGowens. Should Dumars just tear it all down and start the rebuild with those guys? Or continue to let Williamson be the cornerstone? Despite recent reports that the team is listening to trade offers for Williamson and other core players, a source familiar with the situation said they have not had any conversations.
That’s a decision Dumars will inevitably have to make. Williamson has said time and time again that New Orleans is where he wants to be.
“Nobody wants to be on the floor more than Zion,” Borrego said Tuesday. “He’s got love for the game, loves this city, wears this logo with pride. He wants to be out there battling with his teammates more than anybody. More than anything right now, he’s disappointed. He’s here to support us and we are here to support him. This is a brotherhood. This is a family and that’s what we are going to lean into. As frustrating as it is for him, now is a time to lean into one another and build our relationship even stronger and get back to work.”
When Dumars was hired, he immediately did with Zion what so many Pelicans fans have stopped doing. He believed in him.
“Zion's going to continue to be a focal point here as we go forward," Dumars said in May.
Well, it's December now.
The calendar has changed.
The executive VP of basketball operations has changed.
So has the head coach.
But Williamson’s availability, unfortunately, has remained the same.