What happened to Zion Williamson? All-Star forward wants to be fit 'mentally' before playing again

New Orleans Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson will end his fourth year in the league, having played only 29 games after missing the entire 2021-22 season. The former No. 1 pick has had just one healthy season, which came in his sophomore year during 2020-21. Williamson played 61 of 72 games that season.

Williamson has missed 194 games in his four-year NBA career. Percentage-wise, it's 58.7%. Williamson missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a broken foot. This year, he missed eight games due to Covid protocols before he sustained a hamstring strain in the Pelicans' 120-111 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2nd. He re-aggravated the injury in February, extending his time on the sidelines.

The New Orleans Pelicans went from looking like conference finals contenders to a play-in team in no time following Williamson's injury. They were 23-14 before his injury and finished the year 42-40. Brandon Ingram kept the team afloat, but the team could lock the ninth place in the Western Conference at best.

Zion Williamson was recently cleared for on-court activities. However, the former Duke prospect continued to be on the sidelines due to mental hurdles related to returning from an injury. Here's what Williamson said about this (via ESPN):

"Physically I'm fine, now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion. I know the atmosphere I'd be entering based off like the playoff experience. So now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion."

He added:

"It's a little bit of a mental battle, because you know when I reaggravated [the injury] back in February, it was tough. So when I go to make certain moves, there is that hesitation.

"Sometimes there's not and sometimes there is. And I understand the magnitude of these games coming up and I don't want to be out there hesitating or doing something that may affect my team in a bad way."

Zion Williamson would've returned to the court after a three-month absence, and doing that in a knockout game wouldn't have been ideal for the New Orleans Pelicans. They had their rhythm going without him after winning nine of their last 12 regular-season games entering the postseason.

Zion Williamson's extended absence proves costly as OKC knockout New Orleans from play-in tournament

The New Orleans Pelicans' season came to an end on Wednesday after they suffered a 123-118 home loss in the ninth vs. 10th play-in game against the OKC Thunder. The Pelicans blew a nine-point advantage and failed to close out the game.

It's fair to say the story could've been different if they had Zion Williamson in the lineup with some quality reps before this contest. The Pelicans were also in contention to finish as the fifth, sixth, or seventh seed had they won their season finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

However, New Orleans will have to wait another year to see their full potential, with Zion Williamson 100% healthy. They looked poised to make a deep run, with Williamson playing at an MVP-caliber level, averaging 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game on 60.8% shooting, including 36.8% from deep.