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Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans is turning into a player that many believed he would be out of college. Zion, who was one of the biggest draft prospects in NBA history, dealt with injuries throughout the early part of his career.
While those injuries will always be in the back of people's minds because they want to see Zion, he's stayed healthy this season. Williamson is currently averaging 23.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and more than one steal per game. He's scoring 23.5 points per night while shooting an insanely efficient 59.5%.
Zion spoke to reporters after the Pelicans' most recent game and said that he grew up watching Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and some other old-school players.
“My mom put me on Magic, Bird because of their playmaking abilities… watched Michael Jordan, you know he’s a phenomenal scorer. When he had to play point guard, he averaged a triple-double.
My stepfather is more so like old school, you got Kenny Anderson I’d watch, Earl Monroe, a player named Slick Watts a lot of people don’t know. He kinda put me on those kind of players cause, Fly Williams, he put me on those players cause they just play fundamentally sound basketball but they all had their own flair to it.”
Hearing names like Slick Watts and Fly Williams excited some of the older NBA fans on social media.
Zion Williamson has respect for players
It's great to see that Zion has respect for older NBA players. On top of that, he also respects the current NBA star and is arguably the greatest player of all time. Zion Williamson says that LeBron James is someone he used to watch all the time in an interview with Yahoo.
"On four-time MVP James, he added: "I used to watch him all the time, especially when he was in Cleveland the first time, he was just an incredible player to watch, he always held his own.
"Sometimes I feel he doesn't get the respect he deserves but it's not for me to decide."
Not only is Zion Williamson showing love to LeBron, but the veteran reciprocates the appreciation. Due to both of them having all of the hype in the world entering the NBA, they share a mutual understanding. Whether it's praise or criticism, LeBron has seen something similar to Zion Williamson.
“I love everything about the kid,” James said. “I understand exactly some of the things that he’s going through.
“Being a No. 1 [draft pick] and everybody is saying you should be this, you should be that. You should be the face of a franchise. You got to do this. You got to do that… Kid has done nothing but just keep his head down, keep pushing.
"And he’s in great shape right now. Very tone. Something we’ve never seen for a talent with his size, his speed and his athleticism. He’s like a Giannis [Antetokounmpo], [Charles] Barkley or a Shaq. Just certain times they come into our league and you’ve never seen before.”
