2 min read • March 07, 2022
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Shams Charania of The Athletic reported early Saturday that Zion Williamson is returning to New Orleans after months away from the Pelicans while he was rehabbing his surgically-repaired right foot.
This news comes as the Pelicans are playing their best basketball of the season, going 8-5 since Feb. 1 and 4-1 post-all-star break and moving into a West play-in spot behind 24-year-old wing Brandon Ingram and newly-acquired veteran CJ McCollum.
Williamson has still been the center of attention, garnering headlines over the last month about the status of his foot, his relationship with New Orleans’ front office, and his decorum as a teammate.
The newest report stoked the flames of his long-awaited potential return to the surging Pelicans and the chance for a winner-take-all play-in game featuring the 21-year-old star and LeBron James.
Unfortunately, there are still multiple barriers in the way of Williamson making his season debut for the Pelicans, and despite the apparent progress and optimism, he is in all likelihood headed towards a second surgery, according to our ProBasketballDocs.
It has been 6 months since his surgery in the summer of 2021, and the various disconnects between Williamson, his family, David Griffin, and the Pelicans’ medical staff have led to delayed decision-making that has only exacerbated the already slow and confusing recovery process of a Jones fracture, as we have detailed before, because of the lack of blood flow related to stress fractures in the foot.
Further slowing down his recovery is the 2021 all-star’s unique size, violent playing style, and his at one point ballooning to well above 300 pounds.
The Pelicans have 18 games left in the season, which ends in just over a month on April 10.
To make a return, Williamson will have to quickly get back into game shape, which would not have been possible before now as the Jones fracture dictates that he can’t put the full pressure on his feet possible to replicate the speed and motion of the NBA game.
He would then have to ramp up to the point of being cleared by the team doctors, who have been notoriously stingy with Williamson’s health and playing time, much to his chagrin.
The last time he went through this process, in November and December, he never made it all the way to full basketball activities before multiple setbacks resulting in a PRP injection that has held him out for another 3 months.
For these reasons, and several others, our Docs have been steadfast for months that Williamson would not return and be effective this season, and was always on the pathway to another surgery to hopefully heal with right foot for good.
The 21-year-old has played in only 85 of a potential 208 games for the Pelicans, but has been stellar in his brief time on the court, posting averages of 25.7 points and 7 rebounds on an otherworldly 60.4% shooting.
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