AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Zion Williamson made it clear how much he loves New Orleans in a conversation with Pelicans play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers and color analyst Antonio Daniels on Friday:
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“Anybody that knows me…they know that I love New Orleans”<a href=”https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PelicansNBA</a> star Zion Williamson shares a personal story with <a href=”https://twitter.com/JoelMeyersNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@JoelMeyersNBA</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/adaniels33?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@adaniels33</a> on how he blocks out distractions…and shares why he loves playing for the Pelicans<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WontBowDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WontBowDown</a> <a href=”https://t.co/aflsd06tke”>pic.twitter.com/aflsd06tke</a>
“New Orleans—I love it here,” Williamson said in part.
“Anybody that knows me, they know that I love New Orleans. This is the city for me. I’m a low-key dude, I don’t do too much, and the city just fits me.”
It’s been a tumultuous start to Williamson’s Pelicans career, although that’s no fault of his own.
He’s entering his third NBA season and has already had three head coaches in Alvin Gentry, Stan Van Gundy and Willie Green.
Williamson has been exceptional, averaging 25.7 points on 60.4 percent shooting and 7.0 rebounds per game. But the rest of the team has largely struggled, going 30-42 in 2019-20 and 31-41 last year.
That’s all in conjunction with the fact that Shams Charania, Will Guillory and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported on June 17 that some of Williamson’s family members want him to leave New Orleans for another team.
The report read in part:
“For months, sources from all NBA corners have pointed to the Pelicans as a heap of dysfunction. There was a growing unease between Van Gundy and his players, and Van Gundy and the New Orleans front office, which came to a head Wednesday with the veteran coach and organization agreeing to part ways with three years left on his contract.
“Most of the attention, however, from numerous sources across the league, has centered on Williamson’s family members’ thinly veiled unhappiness with the Pelicans, and whether those feelings seeped into the player’s own views.”
Williamson is under team control through at least the 2022-23 season, when the Pelicans hold a team option. He’s set for restricted free agency in 2023.
We’ll find out down the road whether Williamson becomes a Pelican long-term or looks to leave town a la Anthony Davis’ departure for the Los Angeles Lakers, but for now, New Orleans is looking to improve under Green as the team braces for its regular-season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 20.
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