Should Zion play or shut it down?
Duke star’s pending return from injury sparks great debate
WASHINGTON Zion Williamson appears to have dodged a bullet.
Duke’s freshman superstar was listed as day-to-day on Thursday with a mild sprain of his right knee, and now it appears to be just a question of when he returns to action for the Blue Devils.
It won’t be today at Syracuse, however.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported Friday that Williamson won’t suit up against the Orange because of the injury.
To some, whether he should return at all is still very much an issue. Past comments by Williamson indicate that he’ll rejoin Duke’s lineup, but that hasn’t stopped many media figures, as well as some NBA players, from offering their two cents’ worth on the topic.
The debate over whether Williamson should react to his apparent good fortune by sitting out the rest of the season raged on, with some pointing to what they saw as the NCAA’s exploitation of elite athletes.
Others asserted that Williamson came to Duke to play college ball at its highest level and that there is no reason he shouldn’t continue to do so, particularly with the Blue Devils well in contention for a national championship.
Warriors centre and former Kentucky star DeMarcus Cousins let reporters know where he stood as soon as he was asked about it. Declaring that “college is bull----,” he said his advice would be for Williamson to “do what’s best for you and your family” and get “ready for the next level.”
A more recent Kentucky product, Knicks rookie Kevin Knox, said it would be a “tough decision,” but seemed to lean toward thinking that Williamson should return.
“It’s going to be hard for him to just sit out the rest of the season and see his teammates go out there and play without him,” Knox said.
“Everyone wants to play March Madness and get to the Final Four, experience that whole thing.”
Seth Davis of CBS Sports and the Athletic declared that “shutit-down” arguments should themselves be shut down.
He noted that, even if Williamson withdrew from Duke’s program, he’d still want to prepare for the draft with a personal trainer, which would involve many of the same movements as the one on which he was injured.
Even if Williamson got hurt again, Davis claimed, modern surgical and/or rehabilitative techniques would very likely allow him to regain his form and quite possibly maintain his status as the No. 1 pick.
Davis also made the case that, by sitting out the rest of the season, Williamson would miss out on opportunities to improve as a player, experience some personal growth, and just plain have “a blast.”
To FS1’s Colin Cowherd on Thursday, Williamson was a “prodigy” who, in keeping with America’s “great” tradition of “giving opportunities” to people “who are special,” needed to be showcasing his skills on basketball’s grandest stage.
“The appetizer portion of this meal is over,” Cowherd said. “Let’s move to the entree: the NBA.”