Getty Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been criticized for their minute restrictions on 19-year-old Zion Williamson and they continue to take a unique approach to bringing along their No. 1 overall pick.
Team Vice President David Griffin said the franchise is using a program designed by a global wellness company that will teach Williamson “to separate [his] body from [his] ankle, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes.
The team’s medical staff prepares metrics daily which measure how much flexibility Williamson has in all of his joints. The big man, who is also given stats from the basketball operations department, sees beyond the numbers.
“Sometimes scouting reports can be misleading at times, and some players could do more than a scouting report says,” Williamson said after the team’s win over the Cavaliers.
Williamson, who has the ability as a rookie to take over the game, underwent knee surgery earlier in the season and just recently made his debut. The Pelicans had worked with him on his unique 285-frame, re-teaching him how to walk, run, and jump again in a safer manner.
“It’s a lot to take in sometimes,” Williamson said. “I feel like people forget that (he’s 19), they come give me all the statistics. And I’m like, ‘I just want to hoop, to be honest.’”
David Griffin Knows Unique Talent
Griffin, who was the GM of the Cavaliers when LeBron James was in Cleveland, knows the stress, scrutiny, and strategy of planning for a major talent.
“The blessing of having been with LeBron is I learned a lot of what I did wrong,” Griffin said. “Like the time away, I learned a lot of the mistakes we made. And we made a lot of them. And LeBron was so good, he made us win anyway. So it would be a high-class problem that this kid (Williamson) turns out so good that we can make as many mistakes as we did for LeBron and still win.
“LeBron’s a special winning machine, to think anyone’s going to be that, no,” Griffin continued. “But what it did do is it prepared us very much for the crush of attention that comes from having a player that is that well followed.”
Griffin won a title with James in Cleveland. Williamson tries not to get too caught in thinking about winning a title like LBJ did, as he wants to take it one step at a time.
“When I’m just chilling in my room or something, yeah I’ll think about it and what the future holds,” Williamson said. “But when I get to practice or I get to the games, I just take it moment by moment and day by day, because that’s the best thing I can do. If I look too far into the future, I might get distracted in the moment, and that could affect the future.”
Zion Interested In Rising Stars Game
The rookie would be interested in playing in the rising stars contest should the league grant him an invite, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports. Ja Morant and Trae Young are among the other players expected to play in the game.