On Tuesday night, the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that saw its playoff hopes go up in smoke long ago, played spoiler to the Los Angeles Clippers' aspirations of making it to the playoffs outright as a top-six seed in the Western Conference. The Pelicans took a 127-120 victory over the Clippers, with Zion Williamson having himself a monster night, dropping 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists on 8-13 shooting from the field, ripping LA's defense to shreds.
Williamson has been a lightning rod for criticism throughout his career, and his injury problems have done him no favors in the eyes of pundits. But even the most ardent of critics will have to say that Williamson is playing excellent basketball for the Pelicans as of late. However, in the eyes of Shaquille O'Neal, this kind of dominance has to come nightly for someone with the tools to dominate like Williamson does.
“I demand from my franchise player that you play at the maximum,” O'Neal said on TNT following the Pelicans' win over the Clippers, via The Athletic on X (formerly Twitter). “You giving him props for that? I need more. 20 ain't good. I need 26, 27. That's good, but that's not good enough.”
O'Neal has always had this reputation for being hard on big men whose games mirror that of Williamson's. After all, he was one of the most dominant players of his time, especially when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he wants his fellow big men to utilize their size, strength, and athleticism — all of which the Pelicans star has in spades — to crush the opposition.
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Pelicans look towards possible redemption in 2025-26 season
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) dribbles around Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) during the first half at Smoothie King Center.
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Zion Williamson entered the league in 2019 to so much hype, and through a combination of injury problems and off-court troubles, the Pelicans couldn't quite seem to put it together with him as their franchise cornerstone. But if he manages to stay healthy for next season, and New Orleans recovers from its injury woes, the league better be wary of what this Pelicans team can achieve.
Williamson is a walking mismatch problem whose playmaking ability has been growing with each passing season, as evidenced by his latest triple-double for the Pelicans. There may be major concerns surrounding his conditioning and whether or not his body is going to hold up long enough to withstand the burden of carrying a team, but he is just entering his prime — with time on his side to prove Shaquille O'Neal that he can rise to superstardom.