New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson ultimately couldn't finish Wednesday night's game against the visiting Detroit Pistons.
The Pelicans have announced that the former Duke Blue Devils star is done for the rest of the evening because of an illness.
“Zion Williamson (illness) will not return to tonight’s game vs. Detroit,” New Orleans shared via a social media post on X, formerly Twitter.
Before he exited the game, the 25-year-old Williamson scored just four points on 2-for-5 shooting with four rebounds and a turnover in only 15 minutes of action.
The former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick was questionable prior to the Pistons game at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans due to the same illness, but he was still able to give it a go. Unfortunately, it appeared that he couldn't continue playing, as he played just a little over half of his average playing time in the 2025-26 NBA season.
Article Continues Below
Williamson entered Wednesday averaging 22.5 points on a 58.5 percent shooting from the field, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 29.3 minutes per outing.
As for the game, the Pels ended up suffering a 112-104 loss to the East-leading Pistons.
Saddiq Bey paced New Orleans with 20 points on 4-for-12 shooting from the floor and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, while Trey Murphy III added 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Jalen Duren put up a double-double of 20 points and 15 boards for Detroit, which improved to 31-10.
The Pelicans, who dropped to 10-35 amid yet another brutal season, will next face the Memphis Grizzlies on the road on Friday, hopefully with Williamson healthy and available to play.