Insider offers update on Zion Williamson injury
from Sai Mohan, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Zion Williamson played a career-high 70 games last season and showed up to this year’s training camp in his best physical condition as a pro. The expectation was for the Duke alum to finally shed the “injury-prone” label that has plagued his young career and lead the Pelicans back to prominence.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the Pelicans announced Williamson suffered a hamstring strain last week, just six games into his new season. The report immediately raised red flags since Williamson missed 53 games due to a hamstring strain in the 2022-23 season and dealt with a hamstring injury during last year’s playoffs. Unlike several players who’ve returned from in-season hamstring injuries, Williamson’s 280-pound body hasn’t responded well to treatments, causing him to miss extended periods for an injury not deemed catastrophic in NBA circles.
As such, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Williamson misses a significant chunk of the 2024-25 season. To that end, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the Pelicans expect their franchise star to miss a minimum of a month of action.
“The Pelicans are bracing for him to be out about four to six weeks,” Charania told NBA Today. “His return will be based on rehab and how that treatment goes on that hamstring strain.”
Charania noted that the Pelicans specifically used the word “indefinitely” while announcing the timeline for Williamson’s absence due to his previous history with the injury.
Williamson’s latest setback is a devastating blow to a Pelicans team that is already dealing with injuries to three starters — CJ McCollum (adductor strain), Dejounte Murray (hand) and Herbert Jones (shoulder strain) — and blossoming sophomore Jordan Hawkins (back strain). Furthermore, Trey Murphy III missed the first 10 games with a hamstring strain before his season debut versus the Nets on Monday.
If Williamson misses the next six weeks, it would mean a potential return in the last week of 2024. The Pelicans are slated to play another 20 games through the end of the calendar year. And even if he were to return by the end of the year, there’s no guarantee that his body will sustain the rigors of the grueling NBA season.
Here’s a rundown of the regular-season games missed by Williamson in every season of his young NBA career:
2019-20: 48
2020-21: 21
2021-22: All 82
2022-23: 53
2023-24: 12
2024-25: Five and counting
Overall, he’s missed 221 of a possible 411 games.