2 min read • December 15, 2021
Posted in
Despite being shut down on Dec. 11 after imaging showed a regression in healing of Zion Williamson’s Jones fracture, the Pelicans still believe that their franchise player will be able to return this season, according to a report from ESPN’s Andrew Lopez.
As we have previously detailed, at this point a return for the 21-year-old would be a multi-step process. First, the waiting game for the foot soreness to subside, which is difficult to anticipate and can be slow-moving because of the time it takes stress fractures to heal. Williamson then has to get back into game shape before restarting his practice integration and ensuring that the foot is ready for 25-plus minutes of NBA action multiple times a week. This is a process that the team has already tried and failed, and whenever they can finally travel through the chute, the Pelicans – worst in the West at 8-21 – will not have a season for Zion to salvage, or one worth risking Zion’s long-term health for.
Whether they are simply optimistic, or they have not been completely forthright about the situation – probably a little of both – the Pelicans have consistently overestimated the speed that Williamson would recover. Despite the injury and subsequent surgery occurring sometime in late July to early August (the team gave a window of “before Summer League,” which started on Aug. 8), the team did not announce it until Sept. 27, when both general manager David Griffin and Williamson himself said they expected him to be ready to take the court opening day about a month later.
By opening night, he was still a month away from being cleared for contact. Two weeks later, the day he was scheduled to fully participate in practice, he reported soreness in his foot, before the team found regression in his bone healing and shut him down.
We see multiple possibilities for Williamson's near future: a second surgery on his right foot, a 5-year rookie-level extension to keep him in New Orleans, even more commercials with Jordan and Gatorade. But a 2021-22 season is not in the cards.
Written by
